Drug discovery methods

ABSTRACT

Methods for identifying disease-related pathways that can be used to identify drug discovery targets, to identify new uses for known drugs, to identify markers for drug response, and related purposes.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to methods of drug discovery and, in particular,utilizing an information database relating to genomics data for thepurposes of understanding phenotypic traits. This application claimspriority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 as a continuation-in-part of pendingInternational Application No. PCT/US03/03006 filed Feb. 3, 2003, andProvisional Application No. 60/421,772 filed Oct. 29, 2002.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The last 5 years or so has seen an explosion in the availability of datarelating to genomics, i.e., information related to genes, their nucleicacid sequences, the proteins these genes encode for, the biologicaleffect of the proteins, and other related information. The availabilityof this data has opened up unprecedented opportunities for understandingdisease pathways and for identifying new therapies and prophylaxes basedon these understandings.

There are multiple routes to modern drug discovery. In general, theserequire identification of a gene or gene product (i.e., an RNA,polypeptide or protein) that is associated with a given disease. Afterthis association has been made, researchers can design drugs thatantagonize or inhibit, or agonize or enhance, the expression of oractivity (i.e., function) of the gene or gene product in order to treator prevent the disease.

Preferably, researchers will have not only knowledge of the associationof a given gene or gene product with a disease but a fullerunderstanding of the entire disease pathway, i.e., the series ofbiochemical processes within the body that result in disease.Researchers also desire to have a fuller understanding of other pathwaysthat may comprise the given gene or gene product, as well as otherpathways, i.e., pathways that do not comprise the gene or gene product,that lead to the same disease. Even more preferably, researchers wouldwish to have a fuller understanding of additional indicators of safetyand efficacy, such as genotypic or phenotypic “markers” or biochemicalor environmental factors that are associated with responses to specificdrugs, which responses vary among subsets of a patient population.

So, for example, the knowledge that a hypothetical protein, referred tonow for illustrative purposes as Protein A, is associated withinflammation suggests to researchers that Protein A is a likely targetfor drug intervention because a drug that inhibits Protein A is likelyto have a positive effect on Protein A-related inflammation.

Researchers would prefer to have a fuller understanding of theassociation of Protein A to inflammation. For illustrative purposes,researchers would want to know, hypothetically:

-   -   Up regulation of Gene A results in expression of Protein A    -   Protein A phosphorylates Protein B in certain cell types    -   Protein B, upon phosphorylation, up-regulates Gene C    -   Up-regulation of Gene C results in expression of Protein C    -   Protein C activates T cells    -   Activation of T cells causes inflammation.

More preferably, the researchers would also have a fuller understandingof additional pathways that may comprise Protein A, as such informationwould help researchers predict side effects. Also, researchers wouldwish to have a fuller understanding of alternative pathways that resultin the same disease because such information would help them betterpredict the efficacy of inhibiting Protein A. As noted above,researchers would also want to understand more fully additional factorsthat would help them predict safety or efficacy in given patients.Genotypic markers typically comprise specific polymorphisms, such asrepeats, SNPs, insertions or deletions; phenotypic markers can include anumber of factors such as race, gender, ethnicity, age, weight, etc.;environmental factors can include, e.g., behaviors such as smoking ordrinking alcohol, exposure to toxins, etc.; biochemical markers caninclude, e.g., cholesterol levels, etc.

A great deal of such information is available from public sources, e.g.,scientific publications. However, the sheer volume of such data isoverwhelming such that the data cannot be accessed and correlated in anefficient and effective manner. Compounding the problem is that the dataare in disparate sources making it extremely hard to piece together inorder to derive a fuller picture.

There have been several attempts to address this problem by creatingsearch tools, such as MedLine, Chemical Abstracts, Biosis Previews,etc., that permit computer searching of large numbers of scientificjournals or abstracts, such as Science, Nature, Proceedings of theNational Academy of Sciences, etc. Searching these journals is still aproblem because there are hundreds of such journals and many can only besearched by key words (and searching is sometimes restricted to key wordfields or abstracts) or by reading full abstracts, which in either caseis very time-consuming and inefficient such that important articles areeasily missed.

Another partial solution is databases of genomics data. One example isGenBank, which is maintained by NCBI. Gene sequences entered in suchdatabases are usually annotated with information that may include, e.g.,the type of cell in which a given gene sequence is expressed, theprobable function of the sequence, etc.

While these databases are enormously helpful, they miss some data thatappear in scientific publications and, more problematically, they cannotreadily be used to determine disease pathways because the data are notstructured in a way that allows computer analysis of complex relationsbetween different genes and gene products.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to methods for identifying pathways forparticular phenotypic traits. In a particular representative embodiment,the invention relates to methods of identifying drug discovery targetsby defining disease pathways by computer analysis of direct as well ascomplex relations among different genes, gene products, or processes. Inother embodiments, the invention provides methods for identifying newuses for known drugs, methods for predicting likely side effects oftreatment with a given drug, and methods of predicting efficacy of agiven drug in a given individual.

The invention makes use of a structured database representation ofinformation concerning genes, gene products, processes, and phenotypictraits of interest, and optionally other information (including forexample information concerning SNPs, non-genomic DNA sequences, allelicvariations, etc,.) such that relationships that are several stepsremoved and that may be multi-directional, can be identified. Theinformation that is stored typically comprises data from public sourcessuch as databases and scientific publications. It can also beproprietary data or a mix of proprietary and public data. The phenotypictrait of interest is typically a disease, a susceptibility to a disease,or a drug response, e.g., a side effect or a degree of efficacy.

A structured database representation of information will be able todefine biological relationships that are at least one step removed. Forexample, information that may be acquired from one data source, e.g., ascientific journal article, might conclude that Protein A phosphorylatesProtein B. Information from a second data source, e.g., a secondscientific journal article, might conclude that Protein B, uponphosphorylation, up regulates Gene C. The relationship between Protein Aand Gene C is one step removed. Each such “step” can actually involve anumber of biological interactions between or otherwise affecting therelationship between or among two or more components of the body.Preferably, the system will be able to define biological relationshipsthat are 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 or more steps removed. Thebiological relationships that can be defined will often times becomplex, or multi-directional, relationships in the sense that one ormore genes or gene products in a given pathway may also appear to beparts of multiple other pathways so that many of the genes or geneproducts in the database will be related to others in a complex,“spiderweb-like” relationship. A biological relationship exists when acomponent (i.e., concept) of a pathway has a biological effect upon, oris biologically affected by, another component of the pathway. So, withreference to the simple illustration provided above, a biologicalrelationship exists between any two of, and among all of, Protein A, thegene that expresses protein A, Protein B, the gene that expressesProtein B, Gene C, and the gene product of Gene C. Thus, a preferreddatabase for use in the invention may be referred to as a “biologicalrelationships database,” i.e., one that identifies related biologicalconcepts and that specifies what the functional biological relationship(or functional biological relationships) between or among the conceptsis (or are).

There are several uses for a structured database representation ofgenomics information. In one such use, a method for identifying a drugdiscovery target includes the steps of querying the database to identifya disease-related pathway whereby each of the “actor concepts” in thepathway (as described hereinbelow) is an actual or putative candidatedrug discovery target. The genomics information may comprise informationrelating to the biological interactions of each of the “concepts” in thepathway, both within the pathway as well as external to the pathway.Such external information can be used to select, de-select, orprioritize certain “steps” as drug discovery targets.

The candidate drug discovery targets in the disease related pathway maybe prioritized based on factors that include function and complexity, apresence of markers for side effects and patient responsiveness, and“drugability” (this term is used in the field of drug discovery toindicate the likelihood that the activity of a particular biologicalentity can be affected by use of a pharmaceutical agent, e.g., bylooking at the protein family class (e.g. GPCR family members generallyconsidered more easily target-able because they sit on the cellsurface), through structural analysis, or other experiences. Results ofquerying the database may be combined with the results of additionaldata obtained from one or more additional methods for identifyingcandidate drug discovery targets (e.g., differential gene expressionstudies).

The database may include the use of an “ontology” as this particularform of structured information may be used to infer classificationsbased upon the biological interactions of interest. This classifying oneor more findings using an ontology may further include determining alikelihood that the one or more findings residing in a particularbiological classification in the ontology is statistically significant(e.g., by testing a null hypothesis).

In another aspect, there is a method for identifying a new use for aknown therapy including the steps of providing a means for querying thedatabase to identify a disease-related pathway comprising a knowntherapy target; selecting at least one of such disease-related pathwayswherein the known therapy target is also comprised within a seconddisease-related pathway; and identifying treatment of the second diseaseas a new use for the known therapy.

In another aspect, a method for prioritizing candidate developmentcompounds for further development is provided. In this embodiment, themethod includes the steps of querying the database to identify allpathways associated with the target of each candidate developmentcompound and giving higher priority to development compounds on thebasis of whether or not they are likely to result in an undesirableeffect based on their involvement in other biological pathways.

In another aspect, a method for identifying disease-related pathwayswherein the disease is a side effect of drug therapy is provided. Inthis embodiment, the method includes the steps of identifying thedisease-related pathway affected by a drug or drug discovery target andproviding a means for querying the database to identify alternativepathways that are also affected by the drug or the drug discovery targetand that result in the undesirable phenotype.

In another aspect of the invention, a method for identifying orvalidating a genotypic marker for a disease state includes providing ameans for querying the database to identify a genotypic marker that isassociated with a disease state.

In another aspect of the invention, a method for evaluatinguser-supplied genomics data is provided. In this embodiment, the stepsinclude (a) defining a profile model based on one or more profiledefinition criterion; (b) building a collection of profiles according tothe profile model; (c) identifying one or more profiles that overlap atleast a portion of the user-supplied genomics data and determining, foreach such overlapped profile, whether the overlap is statisticallysignificant; and (d) analyzing one or more statistically significantprofiles together with the user-supplied genomics data includinginspecting database-asserted biological interactions embodied in the oneor more statistically significant profiles. The building step mayfurther include building profile libraries containing a plurality ofprofiles, each one of which being based upon a unique profile model. Theprofiles may correspond to static profile models, i.e., pre-generated,or dynamic, i.e., created on an as-needed basis by direct queries of thedatabase. In the former case, a separately stored, structuredrepresentation of profiles is the primary focus for subsequent analysis,rather than the database or a copy of the database.

Profiles may be generated using one of a data-driven and model-drivenapproach and each of the profiles may be generated by building a profileabout a central genomic data type, e.g., gene, gene product, process.Statistical significance may be measured in other ways, such as thestatistical significance of one or more biological associations thatappear to correlate with the overlapped profiles.

A fuller description of these embodiments of the invention, as well asother embodiments of the invention, which will become apparent from thefollowing detailed description, follows. It is to be understood thatboth the foregoing general description and the following detaileddescription are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to providefurther explanation without limiting the scope of the invention asclaimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention, are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate preferred embodiments of theinvention and together with the description serve to explain theprinciples of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates the positioning within an ontology of the finding,“Human Bax protein accelerated the death by apoptosis of rat DRG neuronsafter infection with Sindbis Virus.”

FIG. 2 illustrates a graphical example of the complex relationshipsamong concepts involved in disease-related pathways.

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustrating a method for analyzing genemicroarray expression data according to a method of the invention.

FIG. 4 is Venn Diagram illustrating a conceptual framework fordetermining whether a set or subset of user supplied gene expressiondata that is also present in a profile found in a Knowledge Base isstatistical significant and therefore potentially related to anunderlying biological process of interest.

FIG. 5 is a graphical illustration of the statistical significance (asmeasured by the probability under a null hypothesis) that one, two,three, four or five user genes overlapping a profile from the KnowledgeBase is a random occurrence.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Definitions

As used in the description that follows:

“Disease” means any phenotype or phenotypic trait of concern, includingby way of example a disease or disease state, a predisposition orsusceptibility to a disease, or an abnormal drug response. Illustrativeand non-limiting examples of disease states include high cholesterollevels, congestive heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, glucoseintolerance, depression, anxiety, infectious disease, toxic states, drugtherapy side effects, inefficacy of drug therapy, alcoholism, addiction,etc.

A “disease-related pathway” is a series of biochemical reactions in thebody that result in disease, i.e., it is a series, linear or branched,of biological interactions in the body that collectively have an effecton a disease state, e.g., initiation, progression, remission, orexacerbation. Such biological interactions, i.e., biological effects orfunctional relationships, are the biological processes that occur withinthe body, e.g., binding, agonizing, antagonizing, inhibiting,activating, modulating, modifying, etc.

“Therapy” and “therapeutic” include prophylaxis and prophylactic andencompass prevention as well as amelioration of symptoms associated witha disease state, inhibition or delay of progression of a disease stateand treatment of a disease state.

“Protein” or “gene product” means a peptide, oligopeptide, polypeptideor protein, as translated or as may be modified subsequent totranslation. A gene product can also be an RNA molecule.

“Findings” are the data that is used to build an information database.This data may come from public sources, such as databases and scientificpublications, but it may also include proprietary data or a mix ofproprietary and public data. In preferred embodiments, findings arederived from natural language (e.g., English language) formalizedtextual content according to methods outlined in greater detail below.

“Biological effect” includes the molecular effects of a given biologicalconcept as well as the effects of such concept at the level of a cell,tissue or organism.

Unless otherwise specified, “include” and “includes” mean including butnot limited to and “a” means one or more.

The Database

In a preferred embodiment, information is stored in, and accessed usingtwo databases. The first database is a knowledge base (“KB”) of thescientific findings structured according to predetermined, causalrelationships that generally take the form of effector gene (and/orproduct) ->object gene (and/or product) type relationships (hereinafterthe “Findings KB”). The preferred database structure for this FindingsKB is a frame-based knowledge representation data model, although otherdatabase structures may alternatively be used for structuring thescientific findings. The second database type is an ontology. Anontology is a multiple-hierarchical representation of the taxonomy andformal concepts and relationships relevant to the domain of interest,preferably organized in a frame-based format. The Findings KB andontology are herein collectively referred to as a knowledgerepresentation system (“KRS”). Other database structures, comprising oneor more knowledge bases comprising a KRS, may be employed forrepresenting a body of knowledge when practicing the invention. However,when an ontology is used together with other KBs to form a KRS, orsolely as a KRS, the methods of the invention can leverage the taxonomyand formal concepts and relationships defined in an ontology forpurposes of inferring conclusions about scientific findings which maynot otherwise be readily apparent, especially where findings form partof a complex, or multi-directional series of causal events. Accordingly,provided below is a further description of a preferred ontology that maybe used to practice the invention.

With respect to the preferred embodiments, the principal domain ofinterest is genomic information, which comprises at a minimuminformation relating to genes, their DNA sequences, mRNA, the proteinsthat result when the genes are expressed, and one or more biologicaleffects of the expressed proteins but which can include other, relatedinformation. It will be clear to the reader that the genomicsinformation can also be information relating to other genomics,proteinomics, metabolic and behavioral information, as well to otherbiological processes and to biological components other than proteinsand genes, such as cells, including, e.g., the biological effects ofcells. A preferred ontology structure stores its contents in aframe-based format, which allows searching of the ontology to findrelationships between or to make inferences about items stored in theontology. In this illustrative ontology, the primary organizationalgrouping is called a class. A class represents a group of things thatshare similar properties. For example, in the ontology described herein,one class is human cells, which class includes lung cells, skin cells,brains cell and so on. Each of the members of a class is an “instance”of that class, which instances represent single items or elementsbelonging within the specified class. Thus, an individual blood cell isan instance of the class of human cells.

The relationships between different instances in the ontology aredefined by “slots.” Slots can be thought of as the verbs that relate twoclasses. For example, pancreatic Beta cells have a slot, “produce,”linking them to insulin. A “facet” represents more detailed informationabout a “slot” and can in some cases restrict the values that a slot canhave when related to specific instances of a class. The slots and facetsdefine and structure the taxonomic relationships and partonomicrelationships between classes.

When scientific findings are entered into the ontology, each finding isseparated into its discrete components, or “concepts.” So, for example,in the finding: “Human Bax protein accelerated the death by apoptosis ofrat dorsal root ganglion (“DRG”) neurons after infection with SindbisVirus,” each of the following bracketed phrases is a concept: [Human Baxprotein] [accelerated] the [death] by [apoptosis] of [rat] [DRG neurons]after [infection] with [Sindbis Virus]. The actor concepts are thephysical biological components of the pathway that cause or lead toanother reaction in the pathway. In the instant example, the actorconcepts are Human Bax protein and Sindbis Virus. Actor concepts, eachof which is a putative drug discovery target, are likely to be genes orgene products (including, e.g., receptors and enzymes) but can also be,e.g., other DNA sequences (including, e.g., DNA that is not transcribedor that is not transcribed and translated,) RNA (including, e.g., mRNAtranscripts,) cells, and bacteria, viruses or other pathogens.

FIG. 1 illustrates how these concepts are structured in a preferredontology. As illustrated, Human Bax protein is a subclass of protein;apoptosis is a subclass of death, and DRG is a subclass of neuron. Thisfigure also illustrates how the concepts in this simple, illustrativefinding are related to each other, making it easier to visualize howeach of these concepts can be further linked to other concepts in otherfindings, at the same level and at higher and lower levels. In apreferred embodiment of the invention, findings are structured torepresent causality, thus permitting the discovery of unidirectionalsets of findings that are likely to lead, collectively, to a givenbiological effect.

Clearly, for the ontology to be effective, it is preferable to develop acommon set of terms for like things. It is a well-recognized problem infast moving scientific fields, like genomics, for different terms to beapplied by different laboratories to the same genes, proteins or otherbiological materials, and for terminologies to change over time asconventions develop. Thus, the storing and accessing of genomicsinformation will preferably be organized to ensure semantic consistency.For example, data entry could be limited to a pre-set, or glossary ofterms, inclusion of a scientific thesaurus that automatically convertsinputted terms into accepted terms, and human review to update thethesaurus or glossary.

Regardless of the subject matter captured and described by the ontology,whether genomics or toxicology, it is necessary to examine closely thebody of knowledge that comprises the subject matter so that theknowledge can be organized into the proper classes and linked by theappropriate slots and facets and finally stored in a form that willallow the contents and the relationships contained in the ontology to beproperly represented, searched, accessed and maintained.

The selection of sources for the information or “facts” that will beincluded in the ontology and the methods used to digest those sources sothat the facts can be supplied to the ontology in proper form aredescribed in commonly-assigned patent applications: (1) Ser. No.09/733,495, filed on 8 Dec. 2000 and entitled, “Techniques forFacilitating Information Acquisition and Storage;” and (2) Ser. No.10/038,197, filed on 9 Nov. 2001, entitled “Method and System forPerforming Information Extraction and Quality Control for a Knowledgebase, the contents of all of which are incorporated by reference hereinfor all purposes.

As described more fully in those references and below, scientists whoread the articles that comprise a data source for the ontology mayabstract the facts contained in those articles by filling in facttemplates. An abstracted fact refers to a fact retrieved from aninformation source that is rewritten (e.g., by using a template) in thecomputational information language of the ontology. A completed facttemplate is called an instantiated template. The contents of theinstantiated templates are placed in the ontology. The type and formatof these fact templates are dictated by the content and structure of theontology. The information contained in these facts are also stored inthe Findings KB, which, as mentioned above, is used to store scientificfindings. Although all information in the Findings KB is also containedin the ontology, it is preferred to use the Findings KB when specificfindings are later retrieved as this can facilitate computationalefficiency for searches of multiple findings where information about theclassification of, e.g., the effector and/or object in the findingwithin the ontology is not needed.

Each type of permitted fact of the ontology can also be associated witha fact template that is created to facilitate the proper entry of theinformation or data comprising that particular type of fact into theontology. These fact templates are presented to scientists as theyabstract information from the sources. Pull-down menus within thetemplate present the scientist with the appropriate classes, slots andfacets for the particular fact type.

The process of abstracting information is called structuring knowledge,as it places knowledge into the structure and architecture of theontology. The method for structuring the knowledge is based onformalized models of experimental design and biological concepts. Thesemodels provide the framework for capturing a considerable portion of theloosely articulated findings typically found in academic literature. Thespecific level of experimental results that is of greatest value toindustrial and academic scientists can be particularly targeted forcapture. So, for example, in the field of genomics, knowledge thatfocuses on the effects that both perturbation to genes, gene products(RNA and proteins) and small molecules and various physical stimuli haveupon biological systems is singled out. These perturbations and stimuliform the backbone of the ontology and provide the necessary frameworkfor developing a more sophisticated representation of complex biologicalinformation.

Examples of the types of facts and biological relationships that can betranslated into the ontology are: a) an increase in the amount of Faddprotein increases apoptosis; b) a decrease in Raf levels increasesactivation of Rip2; and c) the allele delta32 of CCR5, compared to thewild-type allele, decreases HIV transmission. In a preferred embodiment,biological systems are defined in terms of processes and objects.Discrete objects are physical things such as specific genes, proteins,cells and organisms. Processes are actions that act on those objects.Examples of processes include phosphorylation, which acts on discreteobjects such as proteins, and apoptosis, which acts on cells.Perturbation of an object can have an effect on a process or on anobject. Using these concepts of objects and processes, the informationin the ontology may be represented by a variety of fact types.

As mentioned above, templates are associated with each fact type. In apreferred embodiment, there are five template types used for fact entryinto the ontology. The corresponding fact types may be described asobservational facts, comparison facts, case control facts, case controlmodifier facts, or case-control comparison facts. Of course, thestructure and variety of fact types depend on the field of knowledge ofthe ontology, all of which will be known to those skilled in the art.

Examples of each of the aforementioned fact types of a preferredembodiment follow. Observational facts (OFs) are observations aboutsomething. An example of an OF is “Tyrosine phosporylation of INRS-1 wasobserved.” Comparison facts (CFs) compare a property of one thing to aproperty of another thing. An example of a CF is “The size of alymphocyte in one organism is greater than the size of a lymphocyte inanother organism.” Case control facts (CCFs) describe an alteration insomething which causes changes to a property aspect of something. Anexample of a CCF is “Mouse-derived Brca-1 increased the rate ofapoptosis of 293 cells.” Case control comparison facts (CCCFs) comparethe effect that something has in a first fact to the effect thatsomething has in a second fact. An example of a CCCF is “Fas increasestotal apoptosis of 293 cells with Brd4 (introduced by vectortransformation) more than it increases total apoptosis of 293 cellswithout Brd4.” Case control modifier facts (CCPMFs) express analteration in something that causes changes to a property of a modifierof a process. An example of a CCPMF is “Mouse-derived BRCA-1 increasedthe rate of the induction of 293 cell apoptosis.”

Despite the restraints imposed by a template pull-down menu system andthe template's isomorphic relationship with the ontology structure foreach of the above fact types, there may still exist an enormous numberof permutations of values for each type. The consequences of anincorrectly instantiated template are potentially serious, as erroneousentries in the ontology would necessitate a quality control process toaddress the incorrectly entered fact. This process can be expensive andtime-consuming. Moreover, for those who are relatively inexperienced inthe field of knowledge engineering, it is not always an easy task torecognize subtle differences between a correct and incorrect factabstraction when facts are represented in the structured language of theontology. This is especially true when an instantiated templaterepresents a complex fact. To meet this need, natural language factverification by a scientist may be included as part of knowledgeacquisition. In a preferred embodiment, a fact verification schemeincludes a natural language display of the fact derived from thetemplate so that a scientist can verify, by reviewing the naturallanguage representation of the structured fact entered into thetemplate, whether the fact entered into the template was the fact asintended.

Alternatively, or additionally, information is extracted automaticallyby use of a computer to “read” and analyze papers and to extract datatherefrom for inclusion in the ontology. In these embodiments, a naturallanguage (e.g., English) source text is first interpreted usingcomputational linguistics to determine, to the extent possible, theprecise meaning of the “fact” contained in the natural language source.After this “fact” has been determined, it may be reviewed and thenabstracted according to an automated procedure, manual procedure (i.e.,human involvement) or a combination of both. Preferably, a combinationmanual and automated procedure is used to verify that the fact extractedfrom the source text is both a fact of interest, that it accuratelyreflects the intended meaning of the source text, and that it isappropriately structured for storage in the ontology. The data sourcesare not restricted to journal articles. Other data sources include,e.g., public databases, private databases, and proprietary data such asconfidential data developed within and confined to a particularlaboratory.

With data from multiple sources acquired and stored in the database,such as is described above, it is possible to determine relationshipsamong genes and gene products that previously would have beenexceedingly difficult or even impossible to identify because, e.g., ofthe number of sources from which data are required and the use ofinconsistent language (e.g., different names for the same protein areused simultaneously or over time.) So, while it may be possible for oneor a small number of individuals to stay abreast of all or mostpublications relating to a very narrowly defined field, it isimpractical to think of scouring public data sources to identify diseasepathways that comprise drug discovery targets without the aid of astructured database, such as is described above. Even with respect toparticular diseases, genes or gene products, this task can be enormouslydifficult and time-consuming without the aid of a structured database.

Findings information may come from informal sources, as well as the moreformalized documents and publication sources discussed above. Forexample, findings may be extracted using a network search tool thatsearches a network and then attempts to extract information contained inpages that seem to be about a biological concept of interest (e.g., aweb-crawler that searches over the internet). Alternately, oradditionally, a search engine may be used to scan corporate email,discussion groups, PowerPoint presentations, etc., to try to identifyand then extract information relating to biological functions. Ofcourse, one should expect a lower quality of results from these sources,both because the data parsing would be automatic, there would likely behigher error rates than manually entered content, and the contentsources will more likely be informal or invalidated discussions, ratherthan peer-reviewed journals and the like.

Findings need not be limited to literature-based private or publicinformation. For example, findings could include findings derived from,e.g., a company's microarray chip experiments. In this case, the arraydata could be reviewed to try to identify which genes are beingco-expressed and/or co-regulated, from which a “A<-->B” relationshipcould be deduced. These findings could then go into the KB directly orinto a graph structure directly. The data may also include findings thatscientists enter directly, or could be data straight from experiments(i.e. w/out interpretation by scientists). The findings acquisitionprocess discussed above may also be useful as a tool for publication, inaddition to a data extraction or entry process. Much in the way thatauthors need to include abstracts and indexing keywords when proposing apublication for submission, they might also be required to write downtheir key conclusions in “findings format”. In this contemplated use,the author or a 3rd party may perform the findings extraction (e.g., asin the way the National Library of Medicine is currently responsible forapproving, if not creating, the keywords associated with paperabstracts). KRS technology is not required for creating a structureddatabase. While KRS technology may be preferred as it can simplifycertain tasks in the data acquisition and data structuring process, itis also possible to create a KB using existing relational, object or XMLdatabase technology.

With an ontology such as described above, it is practical to query theknowledge representation system for actor concepts, e.g., genes and geneproducts, related to a disease and thereby to construct adisease-related pathway that extends back several steps, and thatbranches out to identify overlapping disease-related pathways, asdescribed above. Each gene or gene product in the pathway is a candidatedrug discovery target because it is at least theoretically possible totreat the disease state by interrupting the disease-related pathway atany point. It will be clear to persons of skill in the art that furthervalidation of such targets may be appropriate prior to incorporatingsuch targets into a drug discovery program. Such further validation, ifany, can be done in an number of ways including by correlating thetargets with other relevant data, such as differential gene expressiondata as described below, or by use of animal models, including but notlimited to transgenic knockouts. So, with respect to the findingsillustrated in FIG. 1, human Bax protein is a candidate drug discoverytarget because inhibiting the expression of or activity of the proteinwill potentially avoid acceleration of apoptosis of DRG neurons afterinfection with Sindbis Virus. FIG. 2 illustrates slightly more complexrelationships in disease-related pathways.

In general, the database is queried to identify pathways to a phenotypictrait, e.g., a disease state or a predisposition to a disease state orother phenotypic trait of interest, by constructing a query designed toproduce a response, following computational analysis of the database (orontology), that reveals all concepts that are biologically related tothe phenotypic trait state or to a biological component of the body thatis already known to be biologically related to the phenotypic trait. Thequery can also fix the number of steps removed from the phenotypic traitor other biological component. So, with reference to the simpleillustration provided in FIG. 1, a query might be, e.,g., “Identify allconcepts that are related to apoptosis of DRG neurons.”

The means for storing and accessing genomics information and the meansfor computational analysis of complex relationships among the storedconcepts will typically comprise a computer system, i.e., any type ofsystem that comprises stored, e.g., digitized, data and a means to querythe stored data. Such computer system can be a stand alone computer, amulticomponent computer, e.g., one in which the stored data arephysically remote from the user interface, networked computers, etc. Anyknown means for querying the database will also be useful, e.g.,software and hardware for electronically searching fields, categories orwhole databases.

Thus, in one aspect, the invention comprises a method for identifying acandidate drug discovery target by (a) providing a means for storing andaccessing genomics information wherein said means permits computationalanalysis of complex relationships among the stored concepts; (b)querying the database to identify a disease-related pathway; and (c)identifying the biochemical reactions in the disease-related pathwaywhereby each of the actor concepts involved in each such reaction is acandidate drug discovery target.

In a preferred embodiment, the candidate drug discovery targets areprioritized based on their function and complexity. For example, geneproducts that phosphorylate or activate a second gene product may be ofspecial interest, as may gene products that are “simple” in the sensethat they are involved in few other pathways and therefore are lesslikely to produce undesirable physiological effects. On the other hand,“two-hybrid data” might be considered to have a lower likelihood ofrepresenting an actual functional or physiological effect becausetwo-hybrid experiments measure only simple protein-protein interactionsand therefore provide a relatively impoverished representation ofbiological function and state. In addition, two-hybrid experiments havea relatively high false positive rate, resulting in noisy data thatmight further reduce the likelihood of representing true biologicalfunction. Similarly, genes that have highly redundant links, i.e., areinvolved in multiple other pathways, may be deprioritized because astargets their disruption may be expected to disrupt a number ofpathways. Similarly, pathways to disease for which there are multiplepathways are also, in general, less preferred.

More preferably, candidate drug targets are also prioritized based oninvolvement in other pathways that are unlikely to result in unwantedside effects. For example, inhibiting a gene product such that adesirable biochemical pathway is unintentionally inhibited is likely toresult in unwanted side effects and should, in certain cases, beavoided. Thus, in an aspect of the invention, the means for storing andaccessing the genomics information may be used to predict side effectsor non-responsiveness by queries that identify all known pathways linkedto a candidate drug discovery target, which would include pathways ofgenes and gene products that would be undesirably affected by affectingthe candidate drug discovery target.

In cases in which there are multiple pathways to a disease, theinvention may also be used to identify multiple drug discovery targetsleading to development of an adjunctive therapy that may includeadministering more than one drug, whereby multiple pathways to the samedisease are interrupted. In some cases, there may be an existing knowndrug for one or more of the alternative pathways.

In some cases, it is not clear how a drug undergoing pre-clinical orclinical development is effective in treating a disease because theassociation between the drug target and the disease is notwell-understood. In one aspect of the invention, there is provided amethod for determining or validating the mechanism of action of a drugwhich comprises using the means for storing and accessing genomicsinformation to define the pathway or pathways between the drug targetand the disease.

The invention can be used to aid target validation by elucidating otherpathways that may be affected by agonism or antagonism of a candidatedrug discovery target and by showing alternative pathways that mightcomplement or replace the pathway affected by drug intervention at thepoint of a given candidate drug discovery target.

In another aspect, this invention comprises a method for identifyingdiagnostic markers for a given disease. In this aspect, the inventioncomprises: (a) providing a means for storing and accessing genomicsinformation wherein said means permits computational analysis of complexrelationships among the stored concepts and (b) querying the database toidentify markers that are associated with the disease. The markers thatare associated with the disease are typically genetic markers, i.e.,polymorphisms such as repeats, inserts, deletions, SNP's, etc. They canalso be protein markers, i.e., proteins that are expressed or notexpressed, relatively under expressed or over expressed,post-translationally processed differently or mutated. Other markers arealso useful, e.g., antibodies, mRNA, biochemical markers such as enzymeor metabolite levels, etc.

The present invention is also useful in the growing field ofpharmacogenomics. For example, in another aspect, the invention providesa method for identifying diagnostic markers specifically for drugresponse, i.e., unwanted side effects or non-responsiveness. Byidentifying markers for side-effects or non-responsiveness, a populationof patients having a given disease can be stratified intosub-populations based on likelihood of having a serious adverse event orfor not responding to a given therapy, for purposes of enrollment inclinical trials or for treatment.

The invention in yet another aspect comprises a method for identifyingnew uses for known drugs. In this aspect, the invention comprises usingthe means for storing and accessing genomics information to identify allpathways in which the target of the known drug is involved, additionalto the pathway for the disease for which the drug is indicated, and thendetermining which if any of the additional pathways result in adifferent disease. In this way, it is possible to identify differentdiseases, i.e., new uses, for the known drug.

The method of the invention for predicting disease pathways and targetsfor drug discovery may be enhanced by leveraging the informationobtained by querying a database with data obtained from other methodsfor identifying disease pathways or targets for drug discovery. Forexample, the method of the invention may include, additionally, the useof differential expression data in conjunction with relationshipsasserted in the database.

The invention also contemplates use of drug discovery targets for drugdiscovery. How to use drug discovery targets identified through the useof the invention (optionally following further validation) in drugdiscovery will be apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art. Atypical means includes screening a diverse library of compounds againstthe target and using knowledge gained thereby to iteratively design andscreen new compounds having greater potency.

Analysis of Microarray Expression Data

The following provides examples of how a KRS may be used in conjunctionwith user-provided differential gene expression data to analyze,understand or validate candidate drug discovery pathways according tothe principles of invention. This detailed description of preferred,exemplary embodiments of the invention, like the preceding description,is intended for illustrative purposes only and is not limiting on theinvention. Rather, the limitations of the invention are set forth in theappended claims.

An example of a process flow for analysis of microarray data inaccordance with the invention is illustrated in FIG. 3. A knowledge base(KB) (3) including structured scientific findings taken from theresearch literature (1) and from other sources (22), as discussedearlier, is stored in the Findings KB and are structured according tothe ontology (embedded in 3). The ontology and Finding KB, which formthe KB, are stored in a KRS, and can be retrieved and manipulated usingan KRS Application Program Interface (API) and/or querying language, asdiscussed above.

FIG. 3 shows the conceptual components of the analysis. The datastructures, algorithms, and software components used to perform theanalysis may form a stand alone software tool or they may be integratedwith an existing platform and/or suite of applications that are used toaccess information stored in the KRS. The analysis may include twosteps. A first step involves a series of computations over a copy of theKB to identify profiles, and a second step that involves scoring theseprofiles against user provided data. In the following description and inreference to FIG. 3, an example of the analysis uses user-suppliedexpression array data. A library (7) of profiles is preferably generatedaccording to a user data set, e.g., user-supplied differential geneexpression data, but in other embodiments profiles may be pre-generatedindependently of the user data. The nature of the generated profiles mayvary considerably based on the goals of the analysis, as is explained ingreater detail below. In an alternative embodiment, a pre-generated“library” of profiles, mapping an entire KB, may be preferred for thesake of performance—pre-generate all of these maps so that retrievingthem later will be faster. The user-supplied data may include array dataprovided from a third party product, e.g., an Affymetrix GeneChip^((c)),online service or proprietary database.

Profile Definition

A “profile” may include information about, and be defined according toconcepts such as a particular combination of genes or gene products thatappear to act in a biologically coordinated manner, e.g., form all orpart of a disease related pathway, cells and/or cellular components,anatomical parts, molecular, cellular or disease processes, and therelationships between them. An overview of a preferred profilegeneration and profile-to-data scoring algorithm is presented below.However, before turning to this example, it is important to emphasizethat a “profile” as used in this discussion refers to a subset of thedata contained in the database that is defined according to criterion(s)suited to the researcher's goals. As such, criteria (or a criterion)means any attribute of a profile that is determined, at least in part,by the researcher's needs. This may include criterion defined in termsof one or more biological concepts, the size of the profile (e.g., graphsize), or the findings connectivity in the profile. It should thereforebe remembered that the examples of profile criteria enumerated below areintended only as exemplary embodiments of profile defining criteria. Ingeneral, it is understood and indeed expected that profile definingcriteria will vary from one application of the invention to anothersince a profile structure according to the invention is driven byresearch goals.

Thus, the effectiveness of one or more profiles in communicatinginformation depends upon the criterion (or criteria) used to define theprofile(s), which naturally depends upon the particular scientific goalfor which information is being sought. For example, if it is believedthat information relating to a particular cellular process would behighly informative of a targeted pathway, then findings relating to thiscellular process would be a factor to consider when selecting a profilecriterion. In another situation, the source of the findings (e.g.,tissue type) or the size of the profile (e.g., the size of a graphstructure illustrating the profile) may be effective profile selectioncriterion.

Profile Generation

As mentioned above, a first step of the analysis generates computationalmodels for biological pathways. These models, referred to as “profiles”,become tools for interrogating and interpreting genomic data sets likemicroarray expression data. They are constructed from findings in theKB, and consist of sets of gene (product) abstractions, together withtheir known macromolecular interactions, and various biologicalprocesses the KB asserts the genes to play roles in.

The gene abstractions consist of official LocusLink gene symbols towhich are mapped known instances of gene and gene products in the KB,potentially from both human and non-human species. The intermolecularinteractions consist of specific instances of effector gene(product)→object gene (product) relations; the mapping of gene (product)instances to the more abstract gene symbols thus allows inferredgeneralized effector gene symbol→object gene symbol relationships (asdiscussed earlier). Borrowing concepts from graph theory, the availablegenes and gene interactions can be represented computationally ascollections of “nodes” (for genes) connected by directed “edges” (forinteractions), with various properties being associated with each node(e.g. gene properties), and various properties associated with each edge(e.g. molecular process types, direction of process changes, number offindings/publications asserting the interaction, etc). In addition,various properties can be associated with the entire profile, includingfor example, biological processes, the number of genes in the profile,the method of construction, etc.

The ability to associate a rich set of node, edge, and graph propertieswith profiles provides opportunities to apply a variety of selectioncriterions on the profiles:

-   -   Criterions applied during selection of nodes and/or edges can        provide diversity in the composition and structure of the        profiles produced.    -   Criterions applied after profile construction but prior to        scoring against expression data can reduce unproductive false        ‘hits’ or provide a more focused analysis.    -   Criterions applied after profile construction and after        expression scoring can provide additional ranking of profiles        (by criteria other than expression scoring) for review by        researchers.

Referring again to FIG. 3, step one, profile generation, begins with adynamic pre-calculation of a master graph (or network) that fits acertain set of criteria. The criteria may be pre-set by the system ordefined by the user and may pertain to any category in the database,e.g., genes or gene products, chemicals, protein complexes, proteinfamilies, processes, sources of findings, experimental techniques,organism context, or other criteria, e.g., genes that are absentaccording to the user's data. Then profiles are created from this graphbased on further criteria pre-set by the system or defined by the user,eg. genes of particular interest to the user, maximum number of nodesper profile, etc.

Conceptually, each profile is a response to a query against the KB tofind networks of findings that meet the criteria. These profiles may bepre-built off of a copy of the KB to optimize performance (producing alibrary of pre-built profiles), or the profiles may be built directlyagainst the KRS, so as to allow profiles to incorporate recentlydiscovered findings as they are stored in the KB. Profiles could also bebuilt using something of a “bootstrap approach”: an initial set ofprofiles could be built, then tested for sensitivity in detectingexpression changes, and the best profiles could be enlarged (by addingmore gene members, by merging profiles, or by otherwise changing thecriteria that define the profile model), and the sensitivity testrepeated. Eventually profiles that are optimal in detecting geneexpression changes (the per gene-member sensitivity measure would beoptimal) but not too large could emerge from this process.

-   -   The profiles are generated by first extracting a subset of the        KB findings (4) and then converting findings (4) into a large        graph data structure (5). This is essentially a simplified        version of the KB that is amenable to high-performance graph        data structure operations. Part of this simplification may        include converting findings from a literature-based        representation, where each finding represents a result from a        performed experiment, to a biology-based representation, where        each finding represents a conclusion about biology.    -   The profile generation algorithm then processes this graph (6)        to produce a collection of subnetworks (profiles) (7) that may        be analysis-specific, e.g., user-provided array expression data        (10) input as parameters (6) to a profile generation algorithm,        and that match input criteria. Examples of input criteria are        the size of the profile (number of nodes in each profile),        whether they are differentially regulated in the user's        experiment or otherwise flagged as of interest to the user, the        processes involved (e.g., “activation+cleavage” or        “phosphorylation”), and/or the source of a finding (e.g., only        observed in human liver cells).    -   Many such collections can be pre-generated given a profile        generation algorithm and a set of parameters. If the profile        collections are built upon a copy of the KB, they must be        re-built when the KB changes (e.g. when new findings are added)        if the profiles are to be up-to-date. The collections may also        be dynamically built, i.e., as the KB changes or as new        user-provided genomics data becomes available. Either        configuration is contemplated and considered within the scope of        invention.

Many profile generation algorithms could be used, such as a gene-centricalgorithm. In this embodiment, the algorithm creates one profile foreach gene in the KB. Each gene's profile consists of the gene that“anchors” the profile and a set of “nearby” genes that match a certaincriteria. By “nearby” it is meant those genes that are most directlyrelated to the anchor (or “seed”) gene through some process, in terms ofthe number findings linking the gene to the anchor gene. This approachis termed “model-driven” because the profiles are based on a pre-definedalgorithmic model. Alternatively, a “data-driven” model may be used,where the profile is not pre-generated but instead is assumed to be theset of genes of interest to the user (eg. genes identified asdifferentially-regulated based on the user's data or the major genes inthe user's field of research) together with their known interactions asrevealed by the KB. This essentially takes all the user genes andconnects them using findings from the KB.

In a preferred embodiment, a hybrid model and data-driven approach isused. This approach will be described by using the example of auser-supplied set of differentially expressed genes. In this example,profiles are built about the differentially expressed user-genes suchthat a maximum number of clustered genes supportable by the graph isestablished among each of the user-genes and, in certain cases, theirneighbors in the master graph. By maximizing the connectivity (number ofinteractions) among the clustered genes, the specificity and biologicalcohesiveness of the subnetwork is generally increased. A preferredalgorithm for accomplishing this task is summarized as follows:

-   -   1. Based on the user's genes of interest (eg. by applying a        expression fold-change magnitude threshold to the user's data),        partition the user's genes into two sets: differentially        expressed genes, and non-differentially expressed genes. Note        that users may use other criteria to select their genes of        interest. For example, a user may select genes of interest based        upon expression levels derived from a microarray experiment        (e.g. by picking a fold-change cutoff, or a p-value significance        cutoff); results generated by another gene analysis algorithm        (e.g. initial clustering or data cleaning algorithms); or other        criteria (e.g. user's favorite genes).    -   2. Using the differentially expressed set of genes, (hereinafter        “user-genes”), and the master graph, compute a total “triangles”        score for each user-gene. A “triangle” consists of the edges        (eg. direct physical interactions) that connect the user-gene to        two of its neighboring genes as well as an edge connecting those        two neighboring genes to each other. Together the 3 genes define        a path that has the same topology as a triangle or loop. As        such, it identifies a unit of local connectivity that is the        maximum possible for the 3 neighboring genes. The total count of        loops or triangles a user-gene is one potential metric for its        sensitivity to perturbations among its neighboring genes. Other        alternative ways of ordering genes of interest, such as by        magnitude of fold-change or p-value significance, could be used.        Thus, genes could instead be prioritized according to the        magnitude of fold change, regardless of the connectivity among        other genes.    -   3. Sort the user-genes by decreasing total triangle count.    -   4. Using the user-gene with the highest triangle count, start a        “seed set”.    -   5. Iteratively examine each triangle-sorted user-gene in the        list by computing a “specificity” score for its relationship to        the seed set genes. The specificity score is used to determine        which of the user-genes exhibit the highest degree of activity        (i.e., connectivity) within the seed set relative to its        activity outside of the seed set. A specificity score may be        defined as the ratio of the number of interactions between a        user-gene and its immediate neighbors in the seed set over the        total number of unique seed set genes, neighbors of seed set        genes, and the user-gene plus its neighbors: i.e. (A∩B)/(A∪B)        where A is the user-gene and its immediate ‘direct’ neighbors,        and B is the seed set genes and their ‘direct’ neighbors. The        candidate user-gene corresponding to the highest specificity        score (i.e., most activity within the seed set relative to the        master graph) is added to the seed set. This added user-gene is        then removed from the list of candidate user-genes for        subnetwork formation. Note that in this example of a specificity        score a gene that has more connections within the seed set but a        low specificity score is given lower priority to a user-gene        having a higher specificity score because genes that are        predominately active within the seed set are believed more        likely to be of interest to the user.    -   6. If a user-gene is added to the seed set, then repeat step 5        until there are no remaining user-genes that have at least one        direct connection to the seed set or a maximum profile size for        the seed set is reached. Hence, for a subsequent iteration,        re-calculate a specificity score for each remaining user-gene        not included in the seed set. Then, based upon the revised        specificity scores, select the user-gene having the highest        specificity score for inclusion in the seed set and remove this        gene from the candidates of user-genes for subnetwork formation.        If the maximum profile has not been reached, and there are other        user-genes that have at least one direct connection to the seed        set, then repeat this process.    -   7. Repeat, starting from step 4, until all user-genes in the        triangle-sorted user-gene list have been either allocated to        seed sets, or left over as unincorporated genes, i.e.,        user-genes that have no direct connections with a seed set. The        latter are used to create single-gene seed sets and added to the        collection of other seed sets.    -   8. Separate the seed sets into two groups: those that are        already at target profile size, and those that are smaller than        the target size.    -   b 9. Using a queue of the smaller seed sets sorted in increasing        size, perform pair-wise comparisons among the created seeds sets        to identify those pairs that are optimal for merging via a        “linker” gene. The linker gene is any gene that according to the        master graph has one or more direct connections to both seed        sets under consideration. To compute the optimal pairs of seed        sets and the optimal linker gene to use, compute an “edge sum”        score for each combination of seed sets and linker. The edge sum        is the total number of interactions (edges) that exist between        the linker gene and genes contained in the two seed sets. The        higher the edge sum, the more connectivity will be increased if        the two seed sets are merged. Combine the best mergeable        combination of seed sets and linker gene, and create a new        merged seed set. If the newly merged seed set is large enough,        set aside with the other full-size seed sets. If it is still too        small, add it to the queue for potential merging with additional        seed sets.    -   10. Repeat step 9 until no more seed sets can be merged, or all        merged sets are large enough to meet the maximum profile size.    -   11. Convert each assembled seed set (large and small) into a        subnetwork by recruiting additional connected genes and gene        interactions from the master network in such a way as to        maximize the biological focus. To do this, detailed criteria are        applied in the selection of genes from among the surrounding        candidates in the network neighborhood, including: a) sufficient        connections to the existing members of the seed set (e.g.        requiring 2 or more connections to the seed genes in cases where        there are multiple seed genes); b) a high specificity for        interactions with the seed genes, which is expressed as the        ratio of the number of seed gene interactions over the total        number of gene interactions it has with all KB genes; and c) a        high level of differential regulation (the sum of the magnitudes        of dysregulation values of the gene and its neighbors divided by        the number of corresponding nodes with such values). In the        preferred embodiment, criterion a) is used as a minimum        acceptance criterion, and criterion b) and c) are given equal        weight in picking the best new network gene to add to the        profile subnetwork. After all member genes have been selected        for the subnetwork, all known direct interactions among all the        member genes, together with supporting findings, citations,        molecular processes, etc. are assembled from the master graph        and a subnetwork (profile) is created.    -   12. Store each subnetwork in a library for processing and        scoring against user data.

The above algorithm is one possible algorithmic approach for generatinga library of profiles from biological information known to the KB. Inthis approach, the profiles contain biological information which isbelieved to be most closely related to the user-supplied biologicaldata. It is understood that various modifications to the abovealgorithm, or additional algorithms, may be employed to arrive at alibrary of analysis-specific profiles without departing from the scopeof invention.

As noted above, the profiles may alternatively may be pre-generatedindependently of the user-data. In this approach, called a“model-driven” approach, profiles are built based upon a pre-definedalgorithmic model independent of user-supplied biological data. In thisembodiment, the algorithm creates one profile for each gene in the KB.Each gene's profile consists of the gene that “anchors” the profile anda set of “nearby” genes that match a certain criteria. By “nearby” it ismeant those genes that are most directly related to the anchor (or“seed”) gene through some process, in terms of the number findingslinking the gene to the anchor gene. A more detailed discussion of thisalternative approach for profile generation is discussed below.

Profile Scoring

Step two of the analysis, Profile Scoring (12), is the process ofcomputing a P-value that ranks a profile (9) against the user-supplieddata, e.g., gene expression data (10). In a particular application,there may be many profile libraries generated, each of which containsprofiles matching the user or system specified criteria. Profile Scoringdescribed herein will work for any of these libraries. In oneembodiment, the algorithm makes two simplifying assumptions.

-   -   1. The expression array data is converted into a list of        dysregulated genes (11) (i.e., abnormally up or down regulated)        by selecting only those genes that show an N-fold or greater        difference in regulation (in one embodiment, N=2 or greater).        This is a common initial simplification for expression analysis.        However, in other embodiments a more sophisticated continuous        distribution approach that uses the full distribution of        expression values over all the genes in the experiment rather        than a cutoff threshold may be used.    -   2. For the purposes of scoring, profiles are considered to        simply be a particular set of genes from the KB, e.g., the        aforementioned Findings KB. In particular, the relationships        between these genes are not used for scoring purposes, only for        the purpose of generating the profile and subsequently for        display and annotating it during results creation (see below).        Scoring algorithms may also take gene connections into account        as well, leveraging directionality in the gene connections        and/or the molecular process nature of the connections to score        the “fit” between the profile and expression data set.

Several other embodiments of the invention are contemplated. In oneembodiment, a continuous measure of dysregulation is used, rather thanan expression level cutoff when comparing microarray data to profiles.

In another embodiment, one may develop an aggregate scoring metric thatincludes graph-theoretic metrics, either as a compound score or acoarser ranking for profiles that match based on the existing score. Forexample, for N profiles that score equally well using a first metric,rank them further based on, e.g., graph connectivity metrics under theassumption that the more connected the genes, more likely they areworking together.

In another embodiment, the system could allow user annotation toindicate (hypothesized) dependencies within the expression dataset.Specifically, if users have a priori knowledge about dependenciesbetween the genes in their experiment, allow this to be included (e.g.as edge annotations, additions of new edges, or removal of edges whoseevidence is hypothesized to be weak) in the set of genes to be analyzed.This feature, which is preferred, would require that the analysis genesets have edge drawings (if it is desirable to display this informationin graph form) which use the same semantics of directness as thoseunderlying the profile edges, i.e., a data-driven profile can beconstructed from user-supplied information. Alternatively, forms may beprovided to input edges and tables provided for visual output for theedges. Thus, in addition to findings from the literature, users can addtheir own findings, or modify existing ones by, e.g., specifying aconfidence measure. These user findings could be modifications to the KBitself (add custom findings to the KB, which are then converted to thegraph (5) format) or to the graph itself (convert KB→graph as usual, butthen modify graph (5)). Updates to the KB may use templates to enterthese new findings, as discussed above. If these findings are added tothe graph, then templates customized for graph edits may be used. Thisresulting data or model driven profile (or profiles, if there is morethan one hypothesized dependency for a gene set) may then be used tofurther rank existing profiles by, e.g., doing an isomorphism comparisonwith model-based profiles. Thus, in this embodiment, data- ormodel-driven profiles are ranked against both the prior knowledgeasserted in the KRS and the user's personal knowledge assumptions aboutthe data.

-   -   Both of the above approaches (or any other graph theoretic)        could be refined by increasing the semantics of nodes, edges,        etc and refining the corresponding isomorphism algorithm to        reflect the particular semantics of nodes. For example, an edge        “type”comparison in the isomorphism calculation.    -   Expand the ranking notion to explain all dysregulated genes in        the expression dataset rather than only those genes that are        mapable. For example, if one only can map 10% of all        dysregulated genes, score all profiles lower under the        assumption that none of them will do a particularly good job        covering the biology of the full set of dysregulated genes. A        similar profile weight could be calculated by comparing the        ratio of mappable genes in the entire expression dataset against        the set of genes covered by the KRS in order to estimate the        relative coverage of the KRS against a given expression dataset.    -   Given models of chains of reactions that may underlie the        observed gene expression, one can determine which models best        fit the data. One method to compute this is to permute the        user-supplied dysregulated gene expression values thousands of        times and estimate the P-value based on the proportion of        randomized data trials that score as well or better than the        observed data (ie. Monte Carlo simulations). These mechanistic        models (pathways) can either be pre-specified by users or        generated automatically by searching over the knowledge in the        KB to find biologically plausible paths between causative events        (eg. binding of a ligand to its receptor) and biologically        relevant effects (eg. transcriptional activation of a gene). The        highest scoring models are the ones most likely to explain the        data given the computationally-available information and provide        users with actionable hypotheses.    -   Take into account the context of a user's experiment to adjust        relevant content in the computation (eg. what type of cell line        did they use, whether they know that certain genes are knocked        out or transfected in, etc.). This would allow one to score        profiles based on how well they matched up against this        background knowledge about the experiment.    -   Take into account medium-throughput data to refine expectations        of what is ‘normal’ for different cells, what proteins        potentially can interact, etc. This would provide a normalized        baseline across various biological contexts and refine the        sensitivity with which one can distinguish statistically        significant results.

Results from the analysis may be presented to the user in various forms.In one embodiment, three types are presented:

-   -   1. The first is a list of profiles ranked according to a profile        score (14), generated by calculating the P-value for each        profile (13) in the library and sorting the resulting list. Each        profile lists the gene central to the profile, and any genes        from the expression dataset that also appear in the profile.        Users can view this list and pick profiles that appear to be        interesting to look at them in greater detail. This output may        be viewed using a spreadsheet program.    -   2. The second is one or more profile diagrams (17) for each of        the profiles. These diagrams show all the genes from the profile        and the key relationships between them in the form of a “circles        and arrows” diagram. Different symbols, colors, labels, and        positions are used to encode additional information about the        profile which is extracted (16) from the KB. Different        diagrammatic representations may be used to display the same        underlying profile but highlighting different characteristics.        For example, one diagram may use a layout algorithm that        highlights the subcellular localization of the gene product by        grouping symbols together if the share the same localization.        Another diagram may use a layout algorithm that highlights the        interrelationships between gene products by grouping symbols        together if they share many interactions. An example of such        information is the subcellular localization of the gene product        (information that can be stored in the KB but is not used for        profile generation or profile scoring in a preferred        embodiment). The diagram itself may be generated (15) using an        open source/freely-available 3 ^(rd) party diagramming tool from        AT&T Research called GraphViz (see www.graphviz.org). The output        may be a printout of a diagram or a web-accessible graphic        (image file or Scalable Vector Graphics—SVG-file).    -   3. The third is algorithmic association of biological processes        with pathway profiles (18). This step involves generating a        description or summary of the biology manifested by a given        profile by performing algorithmic analyses of the findings        relating the genes in the profile. Conceptually this is        analogous to automatically generating a set of labels or        captions (18) that describe the molecular, cellular, organismal        and/or disease processes that best represent the function(s) of        the genes in this profile. For example, while many cellular        processes may be involved in the various genes in the profile,        “apoptosis” may stand out as statistically significant among        them. Inferred processes can be derived from the findings to        collect findings that support the involvement of genes in more        general processes using the ontology hierarchy. For instance,        some genes may ‘increase apoptosis’ and others may affect        ‘apoptosis of T cells’, yet all of those genes can be inferred        to be involved in ‘apoptosis’ This aspect of results creation is        particularly powerful since it leverages the unique structure of        an ontology. These process annotations—e.g., the most        representative or highest scoring ones—may appear on the diagram        itself, or may be supported by a more complete list on a        separate page, or via a web display that supports iterative        “drill down” to reveal additional details. The output may be a        text printout, but may also be presented to the user in a GUI        interactive form. Specifically, the findings in the KB structure        information about processes such that, for example, the process,        the location(s) in which the process occurs, when the process        occurs, the molecule(s) that initiated or affected the process,        and the objects acted on by the process are distinguished from        each other. The association between molecules and the processes        they are involved in can be constructed by first building a        graph (tree) of processes, starting with nodes that represent        the detailed processes (eg. ‘increases arrest in G2 phase of        fibroblasts’), and then deriving (more general) parent processes        by successively removing (eg. ‘increases’) or generalizing (eg.        ‘fibroblasts’ are ‘cells’ based on relationships in the        ontology) details of those process. These generalized processes        are not necessarily stated explicitly in any findings, but        instead are inferred from the specific processes that are stated        explicitly in the findings and inference rules based on        relationships in the ontology. Thus, the presence of an ontology        allows a single stated set of relationships (the finding) to        imply a much larger set of relationships that can still be used        for computation and display to users. After the process tree is        constructed, genes and the findings that support the detailed        processes are also relevant to their parent processes so they        are inferred up the process tree. Therefore, very general        processes at the top of the tree (eg. ‘apoptosis’) may be        associated with all the genes and findings for all their        more-specific child processes (eg. apoptosis of specific cells,        directions of effect on apoptosis, etc.). Thus, the process tree        aggregates information at different levels of detail, from        specific to general, and the molecules associated with each        process annotation are compared to the molecules in each profile        to score them.

The results output may be delivered to the user online as part of anintegrated site that makes available all related KB applications. Thisis advantageous because every piece of information generated in all ofthe outputs is based on concepts and findings stored in the KB, whichcan also be made available to clients located on a network (e.g., theinternet) for purposes of interrogating the KB for more detailedinformation related to the profile summaries. Thus, embodiments of theinvention can be tightly integrated with supporting content, for exampleby allowing “click-thru” and “drill-down” functionality to take usersfrom the high-level profile summaries to the detailed supportingevidence. One example of such a network adapted for this use isIngenuity's LifeSciences web site where users may click on a noderepresenting a gene to take the user to a “GeneView” page for that gene.

Other types of results may be provided to the user:

-   -   Annotation of profiles with drug target information by visually        highlighting those genes that are known drug targets (i.e. for        which a targeting molecule has been found or created) or for        which there is evidence that suggests that they may be good drug        targets based on e.g. gene family membership. Drug target        information may be integrated into the results by simply        highlighting the genes on a profile diagram, or drug target        information could be taken into account when scoring the        profiles.    -   Similar annotations and scoring modifications could be based on        unwanted side effects for the drug, tissue specificity (e.g.        increasing the score of profiles where most of the genes are        known to be overexpressed in the tissue in which the experiment        was performed), or IP (e.g. scoring profiles based on the number        of patented genes in the profile).

Alternative Pathway Profile Generation Algorithms

In the previously discussed preferred embodiment, a hybrid model anddata driven approach is used which determines the nature of theconstructed profiles based, at least in part, on a user-prescribed setof data, e.g., gene expression data. Profiles may alternatively beconstructed using a purely model-driven approach. This approach may beregarded as “gene centric” in nature: A pathway profile is constructedaround each of the gene symbols in the KB, using each as a “seed” gene,and including other genes with which it is known in the KB to interact.In this way, the profiles come to represent the “interactionneighborhood” or “sphere of influence” of the seed gene. Profiles mayalternatively be constructed using non-gene concepts as the “seeds”. Forexample, a cellular process like Apoptosis could be selected as a seed,and then all or some subset of the genes the KB implicates in Apoptosiscould be added to the profile, together with their known inter-molecularinteractions (as edges). But regardless of the nature of the “seed” inthe profile, the rationale behind profile construction about a “seed” isthat if a particular profile can be significantly correlated with agenomic data set (e.g. expression data 10), then the “seed” becomes thefocus of interpretation.

Beyond the “seed” node and edges connecting the seed to other nodes,profiles may be constructed in a myriad of ways. All of these approachesattempt to deal with the following concerns: The complete set ofmacromolecular interactions represented by a KRS will usually be toolarge and too diverse to be compared in its entirety with a genomicsdata set. Hence, an algorithm is needed to “carve up” this large“macromolecular interaction space” into numerous practical-sizedinteraction neighborhoods to support a finer-grained probing of genomicdata sets. This carving up should be done with considerable gene overlapamong the different profiles to minimize the chance that a rarecombination of genes might be missed. On the one hand, profiles shouldbe modest in size so that the set of biological functions that might beascribed to the profile are not too diverse or heterogeneous. Smallersize profiles also aid in human review and interpretation. On the otherhand, profiles should be sufficiently large (i.e., they should include,e.g., a sufficient number of genes) so that there will be enoughstatistical power when computing correlations with genomic data setsand/or with biological associations, such as molecular, cellular,organismal, and/or disease processes defined in the KB (as discussedbelow). Another concern is that a profile should be relativelysymmetrical in the collection of genes connected to the central “seed”gene. In other words, a highly interconnected “1st tier” gene (i.e., agene connected directly to the seed) should not swamp the profile with2nd-tier genes (i.e., genes one step removed from the seed) because thiscan change the seed-gene-centricity of the profile.

One example of an alternative algorithm developed to address the abovegoals is referred to as a “spiral” algorithm. In this algorithm,profiles are generated from a fully-extended master graph (5) of allknown interactions. Graph (5) is constructed from a complete set of thepair-wise macromolecular interactions held in the KB, and will naturallydiffer in density (i.e., connectedness among nodes) in different partsof it. For each gene or gene product concept represented by a node inthe master graph:

-   1) Designate the gene or its product as the “seed” node.-   2) Add all immediate neighbor nodes (genes known to participate in    interactions with the seed gene) as long as the number of findings    supporting the claim that the seed and the neighbor interact is    greater than 1, or stop adding if the maximum number of nodes has    been reached. The elimination of interactions based on only a single    finding is thought to weed out unconfirmed or weakly-substantiated    findings. These are the 1st tier nodes and the connections from the    seed to the nodes are 1st tier edges.-   3) For each 1st tier node, compile a list of nodes and edges    (besides the seed) that are neighbors of the 1st tier node, as long    as the number of findings supporting the interactions is 4 or more.    This increases the stringency for scientific confidence in the    interactions, which as explained above is consistent with    assumptions about a decrease in the degree of influence of one gene    over another when there are intervening genes between them. These    additional nodes and edges are considered “2nd tier” candidates.-   4) Sort the 2nd tier candidate edges by decreasing findings counts.-   5) After all 2nd tier edge candidates have been enumerated and    sorted by the findings count, begin adding 2nd tier candidates to    the profile in a round-robin fashion, picking one 2nd tier edge    candidate for each of the 1st tier nodes by selecting the 2nd tier    edge with the highest number of findings.-   6) Repeat the round-robin edge addition in step 5) until either the    number of 2nd tier edge candidates is exhausted, or the maximum    number of nodes for the profile has been reached. This results in a    profile based on edges with the largest number of scientific    findings substantiating the interactions.

The above “spiral” approach (essentially a breadth-first search ofavailable nodes) aims to enlarge the profile in a symmetrical fashion.Second tier edges are added from 1st tier nodes with equal opportunity(but preferentially those with more findings counts), reducing thechance that a highly-connected 1st tier node (with lots of 2nd tieredges) will swamp the profile with its connections. Thus, the sphere ofinfluence surrounding the seed gene is optimally represented. Additionalprofile assembly algorithms may also be used.

The above algorithm, when applied to each gene or product in the KB,results in a profile library where a model of each gene's sphere ofinfluence is collected. Profile Libraries may be constructed which usespecific edge types/molecular process criterions [these criteria can bemore general: can be based on cellular process types, disease states,etc] (e.g. binding only, functional interactions only, or all types)when selecting from available edges. Then, when analyzing a genomic dataset (e.g. expression data set), each and every model in the profilelibrary (or libraries) may be used to interrogate the data set, and thecorresponding fit between the model and the data set is computed. Thisapproach is referred to as “model-driven”. As mentioned above, afundamentally different, “data-driven” approach to profile constructionmay also be performed. In this case, the nodes from which the profilesare built consist of only those genes (or products) that are observed tobe altered (e.g. dysregulated) in a genomic data set. When performedwith data obtained from a time-series, interesting “spreadingactivation”patterns of profile enlargement can be seen.

Uses of the assembled profiles have focused on interrogating andinterpreting large scale genomic data sets where the profiles aretreated as static models. Additional uses of the profiles are alsopossible. For example, the pathway profiles could be fed to simulationsoftware that could allow the dynamic behavior of the interacting genesto be explored. The process nature and directionalities(increases/decreases) of the inter-molecular interactions can be used totrack “what if” scenarios regarding the changes (abundance) in one ormore genes in the profile and the consequences of that change on theother members of the profile. Boolean networks and Petri nets offer sometechnologies that might be used in such simulations. Another example ofhow the pathways could be used is in the generation of testablehypotheses. Computational systems could be devised to generateexperimentally verifiable predictions about the molecular interactions,and perhaps even report on reagents available (e.g. mouse knockouts insome of the profile's genes) and additional information for performingthe experiments. There could also be computational support for therevision/fine-tuning of the profile models to reflect new knowledgeobtained from those experimental verifications.

Pathway Profile Graphics & Biological Annotations

To facilitate understanding the gene composition, connectivity, anddynamics of pathway profiles, and how they overlapped with expressiondata patterns, a system according to the invention may be constructed toautomatically annotate profiles with biological associations and renderthe profiles as interactive graphics.

Biological annotations consist of biological processes thought to beemergent properties of the set of interacting genes in the profile.These biological processes correspond to concepts defined in theKnowledge Base (KB), and can span different levels of biologicalabstraction/granularity:

-   -   Molecular processes, involving a macromolecule acting on another        macromolecule    -   Cellular processes, involving a change in the state of cells    -   Organismal processes, involving a change in the state of an        organism or organismal component    -   Disease processes, involving an abnormal change in the state of        an organism or organismal component

The linked biological processes are those determined to be shared amonga statistically significant fraction of the genes in a pathway profile.A “P-value” significance measure may be computed for eachprofile—biological process association to provide a means to rankdifferent associations, and to flag particular associations asoutstanding. The ranked list of biological associations can be presentedto a user, together with lists of specific genes linked to thosebiological processes. In this way, a user is provided with biological“readouts” of a profile, which can aid in assessing the fit of theprofile to the known biology of a tissue sample, or alternatively,reveal new insights about the biology underlying an uncharacterizedtissue sample. In one embodiment, annotations are limited to biologicalprocess concepts; however, other embodiments of the system couldleverage additional types of concepts in a KB (e.g. cell types, specificorgans, increases/decreases in processes, and other combinations ofbiological concepts) to compute statistically significant associationsfor pathway profiles. Moreover, the system may be extended, or easilymodified to include additional kinds of statistical analyses. Apreferred algorithm for enumerating and statistically ranking thepotential biological processes linked to a genomic data set is describedbelow. Biological annotations of pathway profiles can occur eitherbefore or after the scoring of profiles against expression data. In theformer case, the biological annotations can be used in pre-filtering theset of profiles based on biological criteria. In the latter case, thebiological annotations can be used in ranking the various scoredprofiles according to biological weightings.

Graphical rendering of profiles aims to convert the extensivelyintegrated information of a pathway profile into something that isquickly interpretable by a user. For example, genes (or gene products)in the profile may be rendered as nodes, and inter-molecularinteractions are rendered as lines connecting the nodes. In both cases,labels accompany the renderings (nodes are labeled internally with genesymbols, and edges are labeled with molecular process abbreviations).The central “seed” gene may be graphically distinguished from othernodes (e.g., by using an octagon shape), and the protein structuralclass of each gene product may be conveyed by a unique node shape. Theoverlap detected between the expression data set and the genes in theprofile may also be conveyed in the graphic as follows: dysregulatedgenes are labeled with their fold change (a + or − floating pointvalue), and colored such that down-regulated genes are red, up-regulatedgenes are green, and the intensity of color parallels the magnitude ofthe dysregulation. Interactions between dysregulated genes may behighlighted visually by color and/or line thickness and/or line densityand/or labeling of the line. All intermolecular interactions arepreferably labeled with a series of single-letter abbreviationsindicating interaction types, such as activation, deactivation, binding,transcriptional effects, modifications, cleavage, etc. This use ofsingle-level abbreviations allows multiple processes to be summarizedwithout creating over-crowded labeling. Lines connecting gene (orproduct) nodes may take the form of arrows, so that an “effector” geneis connected at the ‘tail’ end of the arrow, and “object” genes areconnected at the ‘head’ end of the arrows. When reciprocal interactionsexist between two genes (gene products), two arrows of reciprocaldirection may be drawn between the gene nodes. Subcellular localizationof the gene products may be conveyed by placing the gene nodes intolabeled boxes corresponding to each of 5 main locations (nucleus,cytosol, cell surface, cell periphery, and unknown). The arrangement ofthe subcellular location boxes may or may not follow the convention ofnucleus at the bottom, cell periphery and cell surface at the top, andcytosol and unknown in the middle of the graphic. Information aboutknown or suspected drug targets are conveyed graphically using genenodes that are highlighted in color and/or shape and/or labeling.

Using a ranked list of biological processes compiled as in the examplesprovided above, the top 3 or so most statistically significantbiological processes may also be rendered as features on the profilegraphic displays. For example, a biological process graphical featuremay include a box containing the name of the biological process, thenumber of genes from the profile that are implicated in the process, anda computed P-value reflecting the statistical significance of theassociation with the member genes. In addition, the biological processbox may be connected by dotted lines (to distinguish from intermolecularinteraction lines which are solid) to those nodes depicting genes in theprofile which the KB asserts are implicated in the biological process.Using an interactive GUI display of the profiles, the user may have anoption to dynamically control the types and amounts of informationconveyed. In addition, elements in the graphic profile display can behyperlinked to detailed views into the KB for the concepts to whichthose elements correspond (e.g. a GUI summarizing all availableknowledge about a particular gene).

The combination of extensive knowledge integration (connectivity,directionality, interaction types) within profiles, computed biologicalannotations, computer-generated graphical displays of the profiles, andsuperimposition of known pharmacological targets result in a system thatcan support rational strategies for drug target selection. The knowledgeof connectivity and directionality of interactions among member genes ina profile can reveal the potential for information flow through the setof genes. The integrated knowledge regarding protein structural classes(drug target opportunities) as well as prior known drug targets (e.g.,IP obstacles) can help in the selection of appropriate drug targetcandidates. The biological process annotations and connections to genescan help in predicting the biological consequences of modulatingspecific genes in the profiles. Taken together, topological knowledge,target candidacy, and biological consequences can support the selectionand evaluation of novel pharmacological intervention strategies.

Algorithm for Computing Statistically Significant Biological ProcessAssociations for Pathway Profiles

The goal is to reveal biological phenomena from the KB that isassociated with the collection of genes in profiles in a statisticallysignificant fashion. Although the 20 or 40 genes in a profile are eachlikely to be associated with many biological processes, the ones of mostinterest are those that are shared by many of the genes in the profile.To be statistically significant, the shared biological associationsshould occur at a frequency that is higher than that expected by chancealone. Not only do we want to find these significant associations, wewould like a measure of the significance of the association. Thisstatistical measure of significance is called a “P-value”. It is aprobability measure (with values in the range of 0 to 1) that indicatesthe likelihood that the observed biological associations are simply dueto chance. The lower the P-value, especially when below 0.05 (i.e. morethan 95% confidence), the less likely the associations can be explainedas mere chance events.

Let's assume that Profile X has 20 genes, and of those 20 genes 12 areknown (from the KB) to be associated with the cellular process“migration”. The question to be answered is: could the 12 out of 20genes linked to “migration” be explained as simply reflecting thefrequency of “migration” cellular processes among the set of genes inthe entire KB, or is this concentration of “migration” genes unusual. Toanswer this question, you need to know the probability (p) that anyrandomly-selected gene in the KB will be associated with “migration”.This probability can be determined by computing the distribution of KBgenes across the various cell processes represented in the KB. Thisdistribution may then be made available for quick access by the analysissoftware by storing the information in a database. In the case of theinformation available in the KB of a preferred embodiment, it was foundthat 386 genes are linked to the cellular process of “migration” out ofa total of 10,500 genes in this KB. This means the probability that anyrandomly selected gene will be a “migration” gene is 386 ÷ 10,500 or0.0368. The probability of 12 out of 20 randomly selected genes beinglinked to “migration” may be computed using the Binomial Distribution:$\begin{matrix}{{{P(k)} = {\begin{pmatrix}n \\k\end{pmatrix}{p^{k}\left( {1 - p} \right)}^{({n - k})}}},} & (1)\end{matrix}$where n is the number of randomly-selected items, k is the number ofobserved events of one kind, and p is the probability (frequency) of asingle item being of the particular event. The $\begin{pmatrix}n \\k\end{pmatrix}\quad$term is “n Choose k” which is equivalent to: $\begin{matrix}{{\begin{pmatrix}n \\k\end{pmatrix} \equiv \frac{n!}{{k!}{\left( {n - k} \right)!}}} = {\frac{1}{k!}\frac{n!}{\left( {n - k} \right)!}}} & (2)\end{matrix}$

From the example above,p would be 0.0368. From (1), and p=0.0368, we cancalculate the probability that 12 out of a random selection of 20 geneswould be linked to “migration” as: $\begin{matrix}{{P(12)} = {{\begin{pmatrix}20 \\12\end{pmatrix}0.0368^{12}\left( {1 - 0.0368} \right)^{({20 - 12})}} = {5.7567e\text{-}13}}} & (3)\end{matrix}$

It is important to note that this computes the probability of exactly 12genes out of 20 being linked to “migration”. In judging the significanceof this, we are interested in the cumulative probability of 12 “or more”genes out of 20. This is computed from (1) by summing the binomialprobabilities: $\begin{matrix}{{{Significance} = {\sum\limits_{k = {k\quad 1}}^{n}{\begin{pmatrix}n \\k\end{pmatrix}{p^{k}\left( {1 - p} \right)}^{({n - k})}}}},{{{where}\quad k\quad 1} = 12},{n = 20},{p = {0.0368.}}} & (4)\end{matrix}$

For the “migration” cellular process, this gives the cumulativeprobability that any observation of 12 or more genes out of a profile of20 occuring by chance of: 1.9e-12. This is the P-value, and in this casegives 1 in 1.0e12 chance that the results are due to chance.

This test is commonly referred to as the “Fischer Sign Test”, and in thepreferred embodiment is automatically performed on a profile for any ofthe cellular, organismal, and disease associations linked to the genesin the KB.

For display purposes, the preferred embodiment only displays the morespecific annotation(s) when both a more general (parent) and morespecific (child in process annotation tree hierarchy) have the sameoverlapping profile genes. The more general annotations in these casesalways have a p-value at best as significant a child annotation p-valuesince the genes associated with a more general annotation are always asuperset of the genes associated with its more specific childannotations in the process tree. This display pruning eliminates lessinformative processes that share genes and findings with the remainingmore specific annotations.

Scoring Statistics for Profiles

An example of an expression scoring statistical analysis based onprofiles generated from the KB is presented next. The following,generalized assumptions were made concerning this statistical analysis:

-   -   1. The knowledge base contains one or more findings about each        of zero or more (KB) distinct genes.    -   2. Each of the generated profiles is a set of (BCP=Biologically        Coordinated Pathway) genes from the KB    -   3. The user assays a set of genes (USR distinct genes).    -   4. The genes that the user assayed that map to the genes (MAP)        is in the range [0,KB].    -   5. Genes that the user assays may be dysregulated (DYS), in the        range [0,USR].    -   6. The significant genes are the ones that are dysregulated and        mapped to the genes (SIG) which is in the range [0,MAP]    -   7. Some of the SIG genes may also be genes in a particular        profile. For a particular BCP, this overlap (OVP) is in the        range [0,min(BCP,SIG)]

FIG. 4 illustrates the relationships among the above sets in the form ofa Venn diagram. The statistical approach described herein is concernedwith determining whether an overlap (OVP) of some subset of a BCP withthe SIG is statistically significant based upon the probability that OVPis a random event. Two possible approaches for determining thisprobability of randomness are presented.

Approach 1: Exact Probability of Overlap

The initial approach calculates the exact probability of observing anoverlap of size OVP given a fixed KB, MAP, BCP, and SIG. It computeswhat would be expected if the algorithm that generated the profilesrandomly picked sets of BCP genes from the set of KB total genes (i.e.,ignored all information we have about how the genes are related to eachother, and blindly picked every combination of BCP total genes) and ifthe dysregulated genes in the assay are also random (i.e., every assayedgene has an equal probability of being dysregulated). The purpose ofthis statistic is to indicate how likely it is to observe the overlap ifeverything, both the matched profile and assay results, were completelyrandom. So the closer the computed value is to one (100%), the morelikely the overlap occurred by chance, and the closer the value is tozero, the better since ‘random chance’ as an explanation of how theoverlap occurred (the null hypothesis) becomes less likely.

Note that whether there are 0 or 10,000s of USR genes that are notmapped (represented by the light green area in the USR gene box of FIG.4) does not matter, since we have no knowledge about them; they are notin the universe of KB genes from which the profiles are picked.Likewise, only the genes that the user considers significantlydysregulated (DYS) that are mapped to KB genes matter, since if they'renot mapped, we have nothing to say about them. However, the proportionof mapped dysregulated genes (SIG) does matter since we're alsocomputing the likelihood that the particular dysregulated genes thatoverlap a particular profile happened to be blips—ie. not biologicallycoordinated. For the null hypothesis to be true, every combination ofSIG genes that could be picked from the total MAP genes is equallylikely. Treating the assay results as random makes the probability morerobust since it does not assume the user's data is noiseless (averagingmany repetitions of the experiment reduces noise, but often only asingle microarray experiment is done for each condition/timepoint,resulting in significant undetected noise in the results) or that thegenes that the user considers ‘dysregulated’ are actually biologicallycoordinated.

The formula for computing this exact overlap probability under the nullhypothesis that both the profiles and dysregulated genes are random is:$\begin{matrix}{{{P({OVP})} = {\left\lbrack \frac{\begin{pmatrix}{{KB} - {OVP}} \\{{BCP} - {OVP}}\end{pmatrix}\begin{pmatrix}{OVP} \\{OVP}\end{pmatrix}}{\begin{pmatrix}{KB} \\{BCP}\end{pmatrix}} \right\rbrack\left\lbrack \frac{\begin{pmatrix}{SIG} \\{OVP}\end{pmatrix}}{\begin{pmatrix}{MAP} \\{OVP}\end{pmatrix}} \right\rbrack}},} & (5)\end{matrix}$

Where, again, the notation $\begin{pmatrix}N \\K\end{pmatrix}\quad$(or alternatively, “Choose (N,K)”) refers to the mathematical operation(1/K!)*(N!/(N−K)!) for N, K integers. The first quotient enclosed withinsquare brackets in Eq. 5 computes the fraction of the different profilescontaining BCP total genes randomly picked from the KB total possiblegenes that also include the overlap OVP genes. The Choose (N,K) functioncomputes how many distinct ways K items can be chosen from N total items(note that it evaluates to 1 if K=0 or K=N) without replacement (i.e.,each item can only be chosen once—since the profiles are sets, the samegene appears at most once in each profile).

To visualize this, look at the conceptual framework diagram of FIG. 4.Imagine moving the BCP box (vertical lines representing one profile)around in the KB box (clear box, actually it is the constant proportionof the BCP box in the KB box that is relevant, not that it is a box).Each different location of the BCP box would be a different profile thatcould be randomly picked. Choose(KB,BCP) computes how many possibledistinct combinations of BCP genes are possible. However, the OVP genesare fixed, so only some of all the possible random profiles would alsocontain the OVP genes. That's what the numerator calculates—how manydifferent profiles consisting of BCP total genes that include thespecific OVP genes could be picked randomly from all KB total genes.

The second quotient enclosed within square brackets in Eq. 5 computesthe probability that the overlapping gene(s) are dysregulated butoccurred by chance in the user's data. Suppose that only one mappeddysregulated gene (SIG) existed in a particular experiment, out of 1000mapped user genes (MAP). The probability of P(OVP=1) would be 1/1000,since for an overlap of one, the overlap gene would have to be thesingle mapped dysregulated gene (ie. Choose (SIG=1,OVP=1)=1). However,there are 1000 ways a different single mapped gene could be chosen (ie.one way for each of the 1000 MAP genes). So there is a 1/1000 chance inthis case that a single randomly chosen gene is dysregulated (SIG) andin the overlap (OVP).

Note that (Choose (SIG,OVP)/Choose (MAP,OVP))=((Choose (MAP-OVP,SIG-OVP)*Choose (OVP,OVP))/Choose (MAP,SIG)) in Eq. 5; the former wasused above for simplicity, and the quotient appearing in the firstsquare brackets can be rewritten equivalently. Both parts of the formulafor P(OVP) assume a fixed set of overlap genes.

Multiplying the first and second bracketed quotients in Eq. 5 computesP(OVP), the probability that a given set of overlap genes would occur inrandomly-chosen profiles (each containing BCP genes) and that theoverlap genes happened to be randomly ‘dysregulated’ genes—the nullhypothesis. For reference, the Eq. 5 simplifies to:P(OVP)=(SIG!*BCP!*(KB-OVP)!*(MAP-OVP)!)/((SIG-OVP)!*(BCP-OVP)!*KB!*MAP!)

Some implications to keep in mind:

-   -   1. For a fixed number of KB genes and a fixed number of SIG        genes:        -   a. The larger the profile (>BCP), the MORE likely the match            occurred by chance        -   b. The larger the overlap (>OVP), the LESS likely the match            occurred by chance    -   2. For a fixed number of OVP genes and a fixed number of BCP        genes:        -   a. The more dysregulated mapped genes (>SIG), the MORE            likely the match occurred by chance        -   b. The more genes we know about (>KB), the LESS likely the            match occurred by chance    -   3. If BCP=KB, then if OVP is non-zero, P(OVP)=1 (ie. 100%)    -   4. If SIG=KB, then if OVP is non-zero, P(OVP)=1, since this        means that every gene in the KB is a dysregulated user gene, so        OVP=BCP for every possible profile    -   5. If MAP<KB, then P(OVP) in general is greater (ie. more likely        to be random) than if MAP=KB

In order of effect, the following parameters minimize P(OVP) the most(ie. reduce the chances the observed outcomes are random):

-   -   1. KB>>BCP (ie. Profiles only contain a small subset of all        genes in the KB)    -   2. OVP>>1 (ie. The more dysregulated user genes that overlap the        profile, the less likely it is to occur by chance)    -   3. MAP=KB (ie. All user genes are mapped to genes in the KB)    -   4. BCP=OVP (ie. Every gene in a profile is a dysregulated gene)    -   5. SIG=OVP (ie. All the mapped dysregulated genes overlap the        profile)

FIG. 5 is a graph which shows the dominant effect (#2 above—the greaterthe number of dysregulated user genes that overlap a profile, the lessprobable the overlap is to occur by random chance. Note that the y-axisis on a log scale, so each additional overlapping gene decreases theprobability by several orders of magnitude. Note also that this effectis still dramatic even for larger profiles (ie. where the percentage ofgenes in the overlap as a fraction of total genes in the BCP issmaller). In this example, the values 7000 KB genes, 1500 MAP genes, and70 SIG genes were used.

Keep in mind that although a profile with a large overlap may have areally low probability of occurring by chance, the value of the profileto a user depends not only on the low likelihood of being an artifact,but also on the explanation of how the genes in the profile are relatedto each other. The more believable the explanation of how the algorithmdetermined that the set of genes in the profile act in a biologicallycoordinated manner, and the more plausible that explanation is given theuser's particular assay conditions, the more valuable the match, sinceit increases the probability that the decisions the user makes based onthe insight provided by the profile explanation will be biologicallysound.

Also note that this approach is computing the exact probability, whichpermits all profiles to be compared in relative terms against each otherfor a given KB and assay. However, this exact probability is not as goodas measure for comparing best-scoring profiles across multiple assays,since the number of dysregulated mapped genes and maximum overlap, whichhave a significant effect on the exact probability value, can varydramatically across experiments.

Approach 2: Cumulative Probability of Overlap (P-Value)

A preferred statistic for comparing overlaps across experiments, as wellas getting a better intuitive feel for the significance of an overlapuses a cumulative probability distribution, instead of a single valuefrom a probability distribution function (i.e., which is Approach 1).This can be computed by summing all of the individual probability valuesthat are less than or equal to the exact probability value, anddetermining what fraction of the total sum of all the possibleprobability values it represents; this measure is usually called the‘P-value’.

Computing P-values over multi-variable distributions is usually complex.The typical approach is to fix as many variables as possible, determinewhether the calculation can be reduced to an integral, and then solvethe integral for the free variables. Note that: 0<=OVP<=BCP<=KB; andOVP<=SIG<=MAP<=KB. So to make this calculation tractable, let us makethe following assumptions:

-   -   1. When comparing P-values across experiments, the number of KB        genes is constant. Since KB is already a large number, even if        this assumption is not strictly adhered to, in general the        difference will be minimal.    -   2. When comparing P-values across experiments, the number of        mapped genes (MAP) is constant. This is less stringent than        requiring that the user assay all of the same genes for each        experiment, although presumably that would be the norm. Users        only need to assay the same mapped genes with each assay; but if        they compare general assay results to a targeted or different        assay with only a fraction of the mapped genes in common, the        P-value results would not be directly comparable.    -   3. The number of mapped, dysregulated genes (SIG) may vary        across experiments (ie. 0<=SIG<=MAP). However, for any given        experiment it is assumed that the total number of SIG genes is        non-random, although the particular SIG genes are assumed to be        random.

Note that, unlike the familiar ‘normal’, one-dimensional bell-shapeddistributions, this distribution is five-dimensional. Also, theprobability density function (PDF) of this distribution decreasesrapidly as OVP increases and is discrete (i.e., each dimension hasinteger ranges from 0 to a fixed number, not a real-valued range of−infinity to +infinity like the normal distribution). These featuresmake it challenging to develop a formula that directly computesP-values; reducing it to three dimensions by requiring that KB and MAPare constant helps, but the integration (computation of the probabilityfor each of KB*SIG*MAP possible outcomes) still requires a lot of CPUcycles (unless a closed-form integral exists that can directly computethe values). For this reason, it may be preferable to, e.g., pre-computea table of probability values once, and then compare the probabilityvalue from the first approach to the tabular values for each BCP profilewhen determining a P-value. Nevertheless, if KB=10,000 and SIG istreated as a random variable, this lookup table could require about 100GB of memory—a supercomputer. But if the total number of SIG genes isnon-random, this calculation may be easily done once per experiment(i.e., so the same lookup could be used for scoring all profiles againstit), which would require a lookup table with KB*SIG entries (KB sinceBCP size range is 1 . . . KB; SIG since OVP size range is 1 . . . SIG).This approach is preferred as it limits the demands on computationalresources. For example, using this approach in the case where SIG=KB andKB=10,000, only a 100 MB lookup table would be needed.

The P-value is computed by summing all probability values that are lessthan or equal to the probability value computed by the first approachand dividing by the sum of all possible probability values. Note thatsince the outcomes most likely to occur by chance involve an overlap ofone gene, for cases where the observed OVP is greater than one, theP-value will tend to be quite small. So unlike the normal distribution,where a P-value<0.05 is generally ‘significant’, a lower threshold ispreferably imposed for this distribution. A metric that computes thepercentage of all possible outcomes that are less than or equal to theobserved probability value may be better for assessing profile scoresfor single experiments than by using a straight probability value, butwould not be suitable for comparing across experiments since the weight(probability value) for each outcome may vary significantly.

Approach 3: Approximate Cumulative Probability of Overlap (P-Value)

A third approach is to approximate the p-value with a simpler modelsince it is quicker to compute dynamically. Since a random set (SIG)drawn from a random set (MAP) is still random, the MAP term doesdirectly play a role in the probabilities (it just makes them smaller bytaking possible noise in the user's data set into account). A simplermodel still uses the hypergeometric distribution, but without MAP:

This is still expensive to calculate unless we assume that bcp is smallcompared to both kb and sig. Then we can approximate the hypergeometricdistribution (without replacement) with the binomial distribution (withreplacement): ${{let}\quad p} = \frac{sig}{kb}$${{prob}({ovp})} = {\begin{pmatrix}{bcp} \\{ovp}\end{pmatrix}{p^{ovp}\left( {1 - p} \right)}^{{bcp} - {ovp}}}$

Where the p-value is the sum of these binomial coefficients for overlapsup to and including ovp. These p-values can be displayed as the—log 10(p-value) to covert them to an integer score (corresponding to p-valueexponent) which is easier for users to quickly read and compare.

Pathway Quality Attributes

The believability of a pathway expressed in a profile and its relevanceto user-provided genomics data depends on (1) the ability of the KB toaccurately represent characteristics of biological pathways, and (2) theextent to which any given pathway in the KB represents the truebiological pathway underlying the user supplied data. These metrics arereferred to as Pathway Quality Attributes (PQAs). The examples ofprofile scoring discussed earlier would fall under a Category 2-type PQAand the KB's degree of knowledge about a particular pathway contained ina profile model would correspond to a Category 1-type PQA.

Table 1 provides several examples of PQAs. Each row refers to afavorable attribute of a pathway in a profile. A pathway in a profilethat has one or more of these favorable attributes may tend to reflecteither the KB's ability to accurately represent a true biologicalpathway (Category 1) and/or the pathway's ability to explain the truebiological pathway in the user data (Category 2). Referring to Table 1,PQA nos. 1-10, 13-15 and 18 refer to Category 1-type PQAs and PQA nos.11, 12, 16 and 17 refer to Category 2-type PQAs. Under column heading“Attribute”, the attribute type, or quality, is summarized and under thecolumn “Description”, there is an example (or examples) of how thisattribute may appear in a profile, or be implemented as a profile modelcriterion. TABLE 1 Pathway Quality Attributes (PQAs) AttributeDescription 1 Contains tight sub- Assume three genes minimum to form anotion of a pathway. Want the network of profile to include a network ofat least three highly-interconnected genes recognizable pathway for therecognizable pathway (the more, the better). genes 2 Dysregulated genesPrefer sub-networks that have a large number of dysregulated genes, andmutually highly- prefer even more those networks where such genes arefurther highly- connected in the interconnected and dysregulated as awhole (profiles can contain both network dysregulated genes - those thatwere active in the experiment - and non- dysregulated genes. This is amajor benefit since these additions can provide additional insight notobvious from just the dysregulated genes). In general, prefer to seemore dysregulated genes. Given 2 profiles that each have 20 genes, onemay have 3 out of those 20 dysregulated, and the other will have 10 outof those 20 dysregulated, the latter is preferable. 3 Findingsconnectivity Prefer high level of connectedness of sub-network of genes,where connectedness is measured by # of findings supporting a givenrelationship or edge (e.g., pick profile size of 4 nodes that have atleast 5 findings connecting nodes or prefer profiles where all pairs ofnodes (genes) are related by 5 or more findings on average). 4 Edgeconnectivity Prefer high level of connectedness of sub-network of genes,where connectedness is measured by # of edges (e.g., if there are 4nodes in a network, then require minimum of 3 edges connecting each nodeto other nodes). 5 Journal source Prefer high level of connectedness ofsub-network of genes, where connectivity connectedness is measured by #journal sources. 6 Finding quality Prefer high level of connectedness ofsub-network of genes, where believability connectedness is defined bycanonical or high-confidence profile edges given preference. This refersto a preference for findings that come from content sources that aremore trusted. For example, 1 finding from a review article may beconsidered as trustworthy as 5 similar findings from original researchpapers because the latter are more likely to be shown to be wrong overtime. 7 Consistent cellular Prefer genes known to be involved in samecellular function (A → function apoptosis and B → apoptosis then A

B). For example, a preference for genes known to be involved in samecellular function with same direction of influence (A → increaseapoptosis and B → increase apoptosis then A

B, but A → increase apoptosis and C → decrease apoptosis does not relateA to C). 8 Preponderance of Generalization of attribute 7 across allgenes in a profile, i.e., if you have evidence towards an entire pathwaywhere ALL genes are known to be involved in, e.g., specific pathwayapoptosis, then this is a highly favorable attribute. This features maybe function thought of as an extension of the “seed” concept to includea “seed process” or “seed function” as the central element of a profile.9 Tissue consistency Prefer genes consistent with studied tissue: eithershown to be dysregulated in experiment, or known to be expressed intissue being studied (for non- dysregulated genes). 10 Direct (physicalPrefer connections/edges that are supported by evidence of directphysical interactions are more molecular relationship, as opposed toonly high-level/cellular/disease reliable/robust) type associations.Direct physical interactions are considered better because they describean actual mechanistic molecular interaction rather than the higher levelresult of that interaction (e.g. symptoms of a disease) 11 Consistentwith Prefer profiles where profile description of regulationrelationships and experimental dependencies is consistent with KBfinding expression directional effects. expression change This attributemay be evaluated for expression changes provided as a time patternseries or without (since array results show evidence of past cellularevents as well). So if A - inhibits → B, and A is down-regulated, thenyou might expect to see B up-regulated. If your expression data showsthis (A down, B up) then this finding is a potential explanation. 12Consistency with Prefer high aggregate magnitude of expression change(four 3-fold experimental dysregulated genes are more interesting thanfour 2-fold dysregulated expression levels genes). Aggregation may bemeasured by, e.g., average, sum, absolute values, etc. 13 Intermediategenes Avoid genes in a profile that are not able to be linked to aprocess that is that don't appear tied central to the other profilegenes (i.e., if statistics suggest that 3 out of 4 into pathway functionnodes relate to process A, but the remaining node does not, then avoidincluding this node in profile). 14 No findings or Avoid connectivitymetrics that may be biased by coverage in the literature biasliterature, or the coverage of a particular group of biological concepts(e.g., a particular group of genes) in the literature during KB dataacquisition. This bias may be accounted for by, e.g. a normalizationbased on an understanding of the scope of content coverage in the KB, orthe scope of content (e.g., genes types) studied in the literature. 15One or more seed A “seed” approach to associating a pathway to a profile(e.g., a seed gene) concepts for profiles is one of various ways inwhich a story or significance can be drawn out of profiles for users.This allows profiles to have e.g. one or more seed genes that areconsidered to be the most central to the profile function. Allow usersto specify these seeds OR allow the system to pick them e.g. byiterating over all combinations of genes in the KB. While a seedapproach to profile creation may be computationally useful, otherattributes of a profile, which may not focus on the seed, may be equallyinsightful. 16 Connectable to Good if a pathway function is related tosomething to do with the experimental context experimental contextbecause it can validate that you are “in the right space” 17Completeness of Two proteins may be discovered to interact with oneanother, but the knowledge of function significance of that interactionor what happens during that interaction may of interactions be unknown.So interactions that define what happens (e.g. one protein chemicallymodifies the other when they interact) provide a more completedescription of knowledge about the function of the interaction. Sogenerally biological roles (activation/inhibition effect of one proteinon another) is more informative than functional interactions (enzymaticeffects carried out by one protein on another), which are in turn moreinformative than physical interactions (two proteins co-localize or canbind to each other). So profiles whose interactions convey a high degreeof knowledge are preferred. 18 Pathway function is Good if a pathwayfunction is related to something with interesting relatable to researchimplications on system/disease target being studied in the experiment. Agoals pathway may be biologically accurate and be associated withseveral biological functions. The function that is closest e.g. to thedisease being studied may be of more interest to a research than thosethat are true but incidental to the central research question at hand.19 Gene sensitivity to Discriminate between findings/connectivity thatsuggest a high or low neighbors likelihood that a gene and its neighborswill influence each other's activities. Can normalize againstexcessively high or low influence genes.

As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, theexamples of PQAs above, in addition to those discussed earlier, areinformative of the possible scope of profile definition criteria thatwill allow the creation of profiles best suited for research goals. Asmentioned earlier, the lists enumerated above are provided only asexamples of possible profile criteria and should not be understood aslimitations of the invention.

System Configuration

A system for practicing the methods of the invention need not be limitedto a single entity, e.g., a private company, which, for example, buildsand interrogates a KB for biological pathway information and providesthe user interface for inspecting results. Rather, a system may becreated as a result of combined efforts from one or more entities, whichwhen combined (e.g., by a customer or through a systems integrator)provides a system capable of being used to practice methods of theinvention. In the following, an example of how each of the tasksassociated with developing components of this system is provided.Reference is made to a “Company A”, “Company B”, etc. These entities maycorrespond to public entities, private entities, public-private entitiesor a combination thereof.

-   -   Company A builds and sells a KB (possibly by acquiring content        from 3rd parties or creating the content themselves. This        endeavor could itself be split, i.e., one company could build        the KRS software system, another could build the ontology, a        third could build tools to enter data, and a fourth could use        the preceding to actually enter the data (findings).    -   Company B, a data conversion/translation company, transforms the        KB into a graph network.    -   Company C, an analyst or systems integrator company, figures out        what profile characteristics are important for a set of        users/customers.    -   Company D, software developers, build an algorithm that        constructs profiles based on criteria provided by Company C.    -   Company E builds and/or sells visualization and browsing tools        to view Company D profiles.    -   Company F, software developers, build an algorithm to rank the        profiles against various experimental datasets. Company F1 could        do it for expression data, company F2 for protein-protein        interaction data, etc.    -   Company G, systems integrations, integrates all of the above        into a system that takes expression data and predicts functional        pathways based on scoring profiles built from the KB through the        graph.    -   Company H, an analyst or systems integrator company, possibly in        conjunction with company C, figures out what additional pathway        information would be useful to users for interpreting the        pathway. This could include characteristics identified by        company C but that were not used by company D to create the        profile. For example, a particular profile generation algorithm        may not try to build profiles around a central biological        process automatically, but users will still want to know what        process(es) are more or less central to the profile.    -   Company I, software developers, build a second set of algorithms        to calculate and/or display additional attributes of these        profiles (for example, our process annotations).    -   Company J, a content company, manually enters existing pathways,        replacing companies A-D, so that company G can now        build/integrate a system that uses the same profile scoring        algorithm, visualization, GUI, and attribute calculations, but        uses them against manually created profiles rather than        computer-generated profiles.    -   Company K, software developers, might help company J by creating        a “pathway editor” software package that lets users create their        own profiles by drawing pathway-like diagrams. This is “reverse        visualization”: draw the picture, and infer the biological        relationships by seeing which circles are connected to which        arrows, etc.

Although the present invention has been described in detail withreference to its preferred embodiments, it is understood that variousmodifications can be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention. The appended claims are intended to be construed to includeall such embodiments and equivalent variations. All publications, patentapplications and patents mentioned in this specification are herebyincorporated as if each individual publication, patent application orpatent was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated byreference.

1. A method for identifying a drug discovery target which comprises: (a)providing a means for accessing genomics information in a databasewherein said means permits computational analysis of biologicalrelationships among the stored concepts; (b) generating one or moresubsets of genomics information from the database wherein at least oneof the one or more subsets is a disease-related pathway; and (c)identifying the biological interactions and actor concepts in thedisease-related pathway whereby each of the actor concepts involved ineach such reaction is a drug discovery target.
 2. The method of claim 1wherein the genomics information comprises information relating togenes, their DNA sequences, mRNA, the proteins that result when thegenes are expressed, and the biological effects of the expressedproteins.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein the data comprise dataextracted from multiple public sources.
 4. The method of claim 2 whereinthe data comprises proprietary data.
 5. The method of claim 2 whereinthe data comprises data extracted from a combination of proprietary andpublic data sources.
 6. The method of claim 2 wherein the data comprisesdata extracted from a combination of proprietary and public datasources.
 7. The method of claim 2 wherein the means for storing thegenomics information includes an ontology in which: (a) each gene, geneproduct, and biological effect is given an identifier which is relatedto synonyms for the identifier; (b) each gene, gene product, andbiological effect is categorized by class; and (c) the relationship ofeach gene, gene product and disease state is defined by slots andfacets.
 8. The method of claim 2 wherein the candidate drug discoverytargets in the disease related pathway are prioritized based on factorsthat include function and complexity.
 9. The method of claim 8 whereinthe candidate drug discovery targets are further prioritized based onmarkers for side effects and patient responsiveness.
 10. The method ofclaim 2, further comprising combining the results of querying thedatabase with the results of additional data obtained from one or moreadditional methods for identifying candidate drug discovery targets. 11.The method of claim 10 wherein the additional data is obtained from oneof protein-protein interaction studies and protein profiling from massspectrometry.
 12. The method of claim 11 wherein the additional data isobtained from differential gene expression studies.
 13. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the genomics information comprises information relatingto genotype and the disease-related pathway comprises a gene or geneproduct associated with a particular genotype.
 14. The method of claim 1wherein the genomics information comprises the name of each gene, geneproduct, and their biological effects, and the means for storing andaccessing the genomics information identifies relationships that are atleast one step removed.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein theidentifying the biological interactions step includes the step ofcomparing genomics data from the database to user-defined data using astatistical model.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the comparingstep includes identifying an overlap between user-defined data and datafrom the database and the statistical model is a statisticalsignificance model measuring the likelihood that the overlap is a randomevent.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the user-defined data is oneof gene expression data and a manually entered gene list.
 18. The methodof claim 1, wherein the identifying the biological interactions stepincludes classifying one or more relevant findings using an ontology.19. The method of claim 18, wherein the classifying one or more findingsusing an ontology includes determining a likelihood that the one or morefindings residing in a particular biological classification in theontology is statistically significant.
 20. The method of claim 1,wherein the generating one or more subsets of genomics information stepincludes the step of generating profiles according to one or morecriteria.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the profiles arepre-generated from the database.
 22. The method of claim 20, wherein theprofiles are generated by one of a data-driven and model-drivenapproach.
 23. The method of claim 20, wherein the profiles are generatedbased upon information contained in the database and user suppliedgenomics information.
 24. The method of claim 20, wherein the generatingof profiles includes generating a locus for the one or more subsetsbased upon one of the data contained in the database, the user-suppliedgenomics data, or a combination of the data contained in the databaseand the user-supplied genomics data.
 26. The method of claim 20, furthercomprising the step of providing a user-supplied set of gene expressiondata for identifying a particular subset of genomics information,wherein the gene expression data are selected based on one or more ofexpression levels derived from a microarray experiments a prior analysisalgorithm, and a user's preferred gene set.
 27. The method of claim 20,wherein the profiles are gene-centric being derived about a central genefor all genes in the database.
 28. The method of claim 20, wherein thegenerating the profiles step includes deriving profiles about one ormore sets of related user-selected genes.
 29. The method of claim 28,wherein the profiles are generated so as to be non-overlapping byensuring that user-selected genes do not appear in more than apredetermined maximum threshold number of generated profiles.
 30. Themethod of claim 28, wherein the profiles are generated so as to be basedon connections between a first known drug target gene and a second geneof interest.
 31. The method of claim 20, wherein the profiles are atleast one of process, function and disease centric being derived about acentral biological process for all processes in the database.
 32. Themethod of claim 20, wherein the profiles are at least one of tissue,organ or structure centric being derived about a central physical objectfor all objects in the database.
 33. A method for evaluatinguser-supplied genomics data using a structured database that permits thecomputation of complex relationships among genes and/or gene productscontained in the database, comprising: (a) defining a profile modelbased on one or more profile definition criterion; (b) building acollection of profiles according to the profile model; (c) identifyingone or more profiles that overlap at least a portion of theuser-supplied genomics data and determining, for each such overlappedprofile, whether the overlap is statistically significant; and (d)analyzing one or more statistically significant profiles together withthe user-supplied genomics data including inspecting database-assertedbiological interactions embodied in the one or more statisticallysignificant profiles.
 34. The method of claim 33, further including thestep of pre-generating a profile library containing a profile for eachone of a genomic information type in the database according to theprofile model.
 35. The method of claim 33, wherein the defining theprofile model includes the step of selecting a profile seed according toone or more attributes of the user-supplied genomics data.
 36. Themethod of claim 34, wherein the profile seed is a user-supplieddifferentially expressed gene.
 37. The method of claim 34, wherein theprofiles are pre-generated from a graph structure and user-suppliedgenomics data.
 38. The method of claim 33, further comprising the stepof generating profiles by querying the database for information matchingthe one or more profile definition criterion.
 39. The method of claim33, wherein the determining statistical significance step includes thestep of computing a probability of overlap as a function of informationcontained in the database.
 40. The method of claim 33, wherein thegenomic information type is one of a gene, gene product and biologicalprocess.
 41. The method of claim 33, wherein the user-supplied genomicsdata is differential gene expression data and the analyzing step furtherincludes one of the steps of: (1) identifying a new use for a knowntherapy wherein the gene expression data relates to a pathway affectedby the known therapy; (2) prioritizing candidate development compoundsfor further development wherein the gene expression data relates to thetarget of one or more candidate development compounds and the analyzingstep includes giving higher priority to development compounds on thebasis of whether or not they are likely to result in an undesirableeffect based on their involvement in other biological pathways asembodied in the profile; and (3) identifying disease-related pathwayswherein the disease is a side effect of drug therapy, wherein the geneexpression data relates to the target affected by the drug therapy andthe alternative pathways that are also affected by the drug or the drugdiscovery target and that result in an undesirable phenotype areembodied in the profile.
 42. The method of claim 33, wherein thegenomics data is differential gene expression data relating toparticular disease, and wherein the analyzing step further includes thestep of validating whether the gene expression data are genotypicmarkers for the disease state according to whether a database-assertedbiological association related to the disease state, which is sharedamong a plurality of overlapped profiles, is statistically significant.43. The method of claim 33, wherein the profile generation criterioninclude one or more of a biological process, number of genes,organismal, gene connectivity, edge connectivity, findings source type,experiment context, and tissue consistency criterion.
 44. The method ofclaim 33, wherein the profiles are generated from a seed node and theinspecting database-asserted biological interactions step focuses on thebiological interactions emanating from the seed node.
 45. The method ofclaim 44, wherein the seed is one of a gene, gene product and biologicalprocess genomic data type.
 46. The method of claim 33, furthercomprising computing a statistical significance for a biologicalassociation in the one or more statistically significant profiles. 47.The method of claim 33, wherein the generating a profile library stepincludes, for each profile generated, the step of selecting a node for aprofile based on the number of similar findings in the database thatlink the node to a neighboring node.
 48. The method of claim 33, furthercomprising the step of displaying information related to the one or morestatistically significant profiles and genomics data using a GUI. 49.The method of claim 33, further including the step of annotating theprofiles with biological associations asserted by the database includingone or more of a cellular process, molecular process, organismal processand disease process.
 50. The method of claim 49, further including thestep of displaying biological association using one of a GUI and areport.
 51. The method of claim 49, wherein the annotation of profilesincludes using classification information found in an ontology.
 52. Themethod of claim 33, wherein the determining of statistical significancetest includes testing a null hypothesis over a discrete probabilitydistribution, the distribution being a function of the database size,profile sizes, the user-supplied genomics data size and expressionvalues.
 53. The method of claim 33, wherein the generating step includesgenerating a plurality of profile libraries, each of which correspondingto a different one of a plurality of profile generation criterions. 54.A method for identifying a new use for a known therapy comprising thesteps of providing a means for accessing genomics information in adatabase wherein said means permits computational analysis of biologicalrelationships among the stored concepts; generating subsets of genomicsinformation from the database wherein the subsets includedisease-related pathways comprising a known therapy target; selecting atleast one of such disease-related pathways wherein the known therapytarget is also comprised within a second disease-related pathway; andidentifying a treatment of the second disease as a new use for the knowntherapy.
 55. A method for prioritizing candidate development compoundsfor further development that comprises the steps of providing a meansfor accessing genomics information in a database wherein said meanspermits computational analysis of biological relationships among thestored concepts; generating one or more subsets of genomics informationfrom the database; and querying the one or more subsets to identify allpathways associated with the target of each candidate developmentcompound and assigning higher priority to development compounds on thebasis of whether or not they are likely to result in an undesirableeffect based on their involvement in other biological pathways.
 56. Amethod for identifying disease-related pathways wherein the disease is aside effect of drug therapy that comprises the steps of providing ameans for accessing genomics information in a database wherein saidmeans permits computational analysis of biological relationships amongthe stored concepts; identifying a disease-related pathway affected by adrug or drug discovery target; generating one or more subsets ofgenomics information from the database relating to the disease-relatedpathway; and querying the one or more subsets to identify alternativepathways that are also affected by the drug or the drug discovery targetand that result in the undesirable phenotype.
 57. A method foridentifying or validating a genotypic marker for a disease state thatcomprises providing a means for accessing genomics information in adatabase wherein said means permits computational analysis of biologicalrelationships among the stored concepts; generating one or more subsetsof genomics information from the database; and querying the one or moresubsets to identify a genotypic marker that is associated with thedisease state.
 58. A method for identifying a drug discovery targetwhich comprises querying one or more subsets of genomics informationgenerated from a database to identify a disease-related pathway, thebiological interactions and actor concepts in the disease-relatedpathway, whereby at least one of the actor concepts involved in eachsuch reaction is a drug discovery target and wherein the one or moresubsets reside on a computer system comprising a means for accessinggenomics information in the database and a means for computationalanalysis of biological relationships among the concepts contained withinthe subsets.
 59. A method of conducting business that comprisesreceiving compensation from a customer in return for identifying to thecustomer a drug discovery target discovered by querying a computersystem to identify a disease-related pathway and identifying thebiological interactions and actor concepts in the disease-relatedpathway whereby each of the actor concepts involved in each suchreaction is a drug discovery target and wherein the computer systemcomprises a means for accessing genomics information in a database,generating subsets of genomics information from the database, and ameans for computational analysis of biological relationships among theconcepts represented in the subsets.
 60. A drug discovery targetidentified by the process of claim
 1. 61. A method of drug discoverythat comprises: (a) identifying a drug discovery target discovered byquerying a computer system to identify a disease-related pathway andidentifying the biological interactions and actor concepts in thedisease-related pathway whereby one or more of the actor conceptsinvolved in each such reaction is a drug discovery target and whereinthe computer system comprises a means for computing subsets of genomicsinformation specific to one or more target diseases using a database ofgenomics information, and a means for computational analysis ofbiological relationships among the concepts included within the subsets;and (b) screening compounds against a drug discovery target to identifydrug candidates.
 62. A drug candidate identified by the process of claim61.